Mercenary in White
by R976
Summary: [ON HIATUS] The man stared at the shaking boy. He closed his eye and inhaled, sighing again, possibly regretting for what he will say, before telling the boy, "Come." Warning: Gray-romantic (ish), twisted slash, profanity, etc. Will turn M eventually.
1. Prologue & Ch I: The Boy with no Name

**PROLOGUE**

He stood by the roofs, hoping to find his remaining preys. Much to his disappointment, there were none. He sighed as he looked down, his blood lust diminishing in his eyes. Not much has been going around, even for a mercenary. Hell, he'll even accept shitty jobs like body guarding a lowlife. And at times like these, he appreciates taking on a big job. 'Kill everyone' is basically the contract from a big client. He looked at the bloody trail of corpses that leads to him. He looked down again, sighing, his hand that grips the collar of one of the corpses was dropped down the dark corner, letting go.

Once, he blinked.

His lone eye identifying a silhouette below him. He remained still, watching the silhouette. What business does this silhouette have in the dark corners of Tokyo? Curiosity struck this lone-eyed mercenary as he now crouched closer to the enigma below him. Ah, yes, Tokyo. After what happened in the End, Slade Wilson decided to lay low for a while. And by awhile, he meant a _long_ while. And his first thought was to settle in Tokyo, Japan, where he remembered an abandoned street where it's simply livable enough for a man like him and went there. Luckily, it was still abandoned due to a recent earthquake. That, and he was desperate for solitude. He needed to calm himself down and be himself again after being a servant to a bastard of a demon and their family issues. And what other way can he do both of that other than going back to his previous job: an assassin/mercenary. And so far, it's working.

With a squint of his eye, his vision of the silhouette cleared. Oh, just a child. Again, he sighed. He was about to leave the child alone until his instincts told him to stay. He let out a chuckle, why would he stay? He no longer have business with this child. And here he thought it was danger.

Twice, he blinked again.

His mind blanked as he saw the child look up. The child was looking at him. The mercenary's eye slightly widened. How did the child find him? He stared back, now much more attentive. _Interesting,_ he thought, a smirk forming underneath his mask. He decided to show himself down the ground the child was standing on. So he jumped, landing in front of the child who flinched, but still stared at him. The Mercenary looked at the child, eyes leveled with his one eye, his position still the same as how he landed, in a crouched form. He can see the boy clearly now.

The boy, possibly around the age of fourteen, was thin. His skin was in-between the colors of porcelain and snow, it was beautiful though covered in small bruises and stitches on his arms and legs. His light copper medium-length hair partially covering his dazed-like state of his eyes that were amber on the left and ice blue on his right eye as it stares at the mercenary in front of him. The boy's androgynous features was caught by another stitch that starts from his left cheek down the edge of his face, and with another careful look, one can see a scar at the boy's left end of his lip, going and ending up leveled to his nose.

"This place is suited not for children." The Mercenary finally spoke after a few moments of staring at the boy's feature in silence. "I highly suggest you leave this place." No answer from the boy. He was still being stared at. He sighed, repeating what he said in Japanese. He earned a shake of disapproval from the stoic boy.

"And why is that?" Lone-eyed met the boy's eyes again before the boy turned his head to his left.

The man, too, turned his head to what the boy is looking at. A corpse laid there, his face impossible of identification. "Is he you parent?" The man asked, earning another 'no' from the boy. "A stranger then." The boy looked down the ground.

The man stood up, the boy flinching again. He ordered, "Leave." Before he leave for himself after adjusting his weapons, leaping up to the roofs again with a hook shot and left the area towards his hideout.

A few minutes later, he has finally arrived after completing his contract with his client. He sighed, closing his eye, thinking back to the boy he met a while ago. He heard a clank of metal rolling towards his feet and immediately pulled out a gun from his holster and aimed at the source of the noise.

Thrice, the third moment his eye blinked. "How did you-?"

His gun lowered as he saw the boy he met earlier hesitantly walking towards him. The man could only stare in surprise as the boy stopped close to him and shakily grabs a fistful of his shirt.

Again, the silence resurfaced like it did awhile back. The man stared at the shaking boy. He closed his eye and inhaled, sighing again, possibly regretting for what he will say, before telling the boy,

"Come."

* * *

 **CHAPTER I**

The boy followed the mercenary who opened the door to his hideout, gesturing the boy to enter. The boy stared at the place he walked into. It was a house. Concrete walls, wooden furniture, marble tiling, and all that. What hideout? This is the mercenary's house.

The boy gave the man a look of doubt when the man said it was a hideout. However, the look he gave the man was not noticed as he walked the hall and upstairs, the sound of his metal armor fainting in the background. The boy was left alone for him to roam around the place.

A kitchen to the boy's right and the living room to his left. The boy walked on, his path separated into two again. To the right is a toilet, to the left is a storage room, and in front of him is the stairs leading up to few more rooms. It was the same layout, long hallway and doors that leads to rooms. Three doors on each sides and a seventh door at the end. Seeing as it Three doors on each sides and a seventh door at the end. Seeing as it was an open door, he walked towards it, peeking slightly into the room to see the mercenary removing his promethium armor, then his utility belt along with his holsters and sheaths. Lastly removing his metallic mask that was colored orange on the left and black to the other half. The boy stepped inside the room, letting the man know of his presence as the boy once again stared at him.

The man turned his head towards the door to see the boy, staring at him. "It's rude to stare." The man told the boy, who looked away from him as if, apologetically. "Next time, knock." The man approached the boy, who backed away in surprise only to have his back against the wall.

The shaking boy shuts his eyes tightly, awaiting a possible hit from the man. To his surprise, he was carried in one of the man's muscular arms. He opened his eyes, confusion in his eyes as he looked at the man, only for his expression to be replaced in awe.

The boy saw the man's face.

His first noticed the man's white crew cut hair, then the cleanly trimmed beard, and finally to his lone sharp blue eye. He looks slightly slightly old, but leans more on also looking young.t leans more on also looking young. The boy stared at the black patch that was covering the his other eye and tried to touch it. The man backed his head away from the boy's hand, telling him not to do it, to which the boy obeyed.

What now? The man thought.

"My name is Wilson." He told the child. "Your name, if I may?"

The boy stared, then shook his head.

"You don't want to say your name?"

The boy shook his head again.

"You don't have a name?" Wilson snorted.

The boy nodded.

"That's troubling." Wilson sighed, putting the boy down the bed. Wilson blinked when he saw a mark on the boy's nape. 'R976' was what it labelled.

*R976…? Ra? Rakuna? … Roku…?

"Ragnarök? Well now..." Wilson chuckled. He patted the boy's head and ruffled his hair. He noticed how the boy shuts his eyes when his hair was being ruffled. "I guess you need a haircut, Ragnarök."

He saw the boy's confused look.

"From hereon, your name will be Ragnarök. Ragnarök…" Wilson's eyes shifted left and right looking for another name until he saw the document on his computer at the opposite side of the bed. "... Cain!" He was looking up at the story of Cain and Abel during his contract before he met the boy.

"Your name will be Ragnarök Cain. Understood?" He looked at the boy, whose eyes widened to his sudden given name.

And for the first time he met the boy, he finally gave a bright smile as he calls his own name, "Ragna...rök Cain. Ragnarök Cain." He repeated it a few times and nodded, "Ragnarök Cain!" The boy pointed at himself.

"Pfft," Wilson snorted and patting the boy's head again, "Good boy."

* * *

*R976 can be pronounced as 'Ragnarök' simply because of the letter and numbers. R=Ra(/Ri/Ru/Re/Ro) though Japanese characters usually starts with the vowel 'a' (A/Ka/Sa/Ta/Ra/Ha/Ma/Na/Ya/Wa), 9=Kyu/Ku but can be translated the same when it is spelled 'gu', 7=Na/Nana/Shichi, 6=Ro/Roku/Muu.

.

So when pronounced, it's 'Ragunarokku' in Romanji.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay, so this is my first fic. In all honesty, I wrote other stuff but eh. /shrug

All I'm going to say is I'm gonna try to enjoy it as far as my mind goes into writing 'stuff'.

Hoping you like, if not, appreciate this chapter. m( v v )m


	2. The Boy, Subject R976

**CHAPTER II**

Wilson stood up from his bed and lightly grabbed Ragna's hand to follow him out of the room and opened the door to his left to enter the bathroom. The man grabbed the boy some towels from up the cabinet across the mirror and sink, and handed them to the boy. "Go bathe yourself, you're filthy. Once you're done, I want you in my room so I can tend to your bruises. Then maybe after, I'll get you a haircut. Alright?" Wilson patted Ragna's head again before leaving the body on his own in the bathroom.

Once the door closed, Ragna looked at the towels given to him by Wilson. Again, to this, he was confused. He stared some more before going to the tub, eyeing the knobs labelled in red and the other in blue. He opened both as he tried to find the warm temperature until satisfied and proceeded with removing his clothes.

* * *

Wilson heard the water ran in the bathroom as he was changing into a more comfortable wear. _What now?_ He asked again. Not entirely questioning anything but what to do with the boy. He pulled a black wife beater down and put an orange belt around his waist, supporting the black cargo pants as he left his feet bare. _Ah. Clothes. Right…_ The mercenary held epiphany as he got out of the room and wander around the house, looking for clothes that would fit the boy. However, much to his luck, there were none, leaving him no choice but to give him his shirt and- Well… just a shirt. He sighed, _why am I doing this?_ He folded the shirt and knocked on the bathroom door before opening it.

* * *

The boy was startled by the knock that he ducked under the warm water as the man entered the room. "... I came to collect your clothes." Was all Wilson told him. And just before leaving, he added, "There's a shirt there. Wear it." And closed the door. Wilson took a look at the boy's clothes. It was dirty, stains of blood and mud mixed in the shirt and pants, if he could even call it clothes. It was made of rags and various fabrics poorly stitched together, there were even holes and are tattered on the sides and inwards. The man sighed, they couldn't even properly care for the boy. He shook his head, he's not even wearing underwear. _Pitiful,_ Wilson thought and threw the rags away. Meanwhile, he entered his room and sat on the chair as he opened his computer, ready to search about the numbers on the boy's neck. He could've sworn he had seen it before. He immediately went to search the numbers on a search engine, and just like he thought, he did recognized the number. Ah, that's right. It was in the news. Ah, that's right. It was in the news.

 **R976: The Ragnarök Project.** The mercenary clicked the link.

' _It has been years since another project was heard from the Kamui Laboratory. It wasn't until four decades ago that they started another project where they experimented on creating an artificial life form from the very scratch.'_

 _Now_ the mercenary is interested.

' _It took them ten years to create numerous artificial lifeforms, estimating around a hundred or so, in a cylinder tank supported by stem cells and few chemicals to hasten the lifeforms' growth. Another twenty years, and they have made more, numbers nearing to a thousand, following the same progress they did few years back. From their results, only few have reached the age of five, let alone three. So they have celebrated when one and only one became a success, surpassing the others as it is now age fourteen. It took the members of the Kamui Labs countless tries until they created a successful life form, their 976th from the R-Section of the laboratory. Serial number 'R976', mostly known as 'Ragnarök' was created.'_

 _So I'm not the only one who thought the name Ragnarök,_ Wilson snorted, _moreover, he's an artificial life form? Very intriguing._

' _Not much information was given at that point. They have only told the history of their project but other than that, whatever information that concerns Ragnarök remains hidden and untold. However, some photographers had secretly taken shots by the Kamui Lab's back entrance of a human-sized tank being put inside a truck along with some sophisticated medical machines.'_

Pictures were shown below of a water-filled cylinder tank and a familiar figure inside it. It was Ragna from just three years ago, the picture dated. Another picture showed Ragna in the same tank being moved out of the Labs with the director of the research team, Kamui Kunitoshi and a few of his assistants. The others were just the same picture taken in a different angle.

' _The following pictures were asked to the Director Kamui Kunitoshi if this was the subject they called 'Ragnarök', to which he confirmed, causing surprised reactions from the general public. When asked about his appearance, the director simply answered that since it is formed and paired with various genes, R976 was naturally born that way, along with the subject's stitches.'_

Wilson skipped a few paragraphs until he saw the last one.

' _UPDATE: By the mountainside of Tokyo was a report of a building that exploded in the middle of the night just a few days ago. It is where another one of the facility of Kamui Labs where the current subject no. R976 is being held at but was nowhere to be found along with the Director Kamui Kunitoshi, head of the research team. The police are still on the case, searching for clues that leads to the two missing.' However, some photographers had secretly taken shots by the Kamui Lab's back entrance of a human-sized tank being put inside a truck along with some sophisticated medical machines.'_

The man stopped reading and leaned back on his seat with a sigh.

 _Interesting,_ the man smirked inwardly.

* * *

The boy immediately cleaned himself up before he gets interrupted again. A few minutes later, the boy got out of the bath and loosely put a towel around his waist and another to dry his hair, grabbing the shirt that was given to him by Wilson, and going into the man's room after nervously deciding to knock and open the door, entering. He saw the man on his desk, his workplace typing away data he cannot comprehend. He ignored it and hopped onto the bed, tugging the sleeves of the shirt the man gave to him. Just when Ragna was about to look at Wilson, it was him who got stared at instead, making him freeze as his eyes locked with his own.

"Why do you stare?" Muttered Wilson, earning a head tilt from the boy. The man shook his head and walked towards the boy. After doing so, he knelt down in front of him as he puts a hand out to the boy's left leg. He opened a case and started applying medication to it as he asked, "Why are you so quiet?"

The boy, confused, stared at the man before him. The man, applying the same to the boy's right leg, looked back, smirking, "You're staring again." Immediately, the boy looked away sheepishly. " _Please_ tell me you know how to talk." Wilson sighed.

"... C-... alk…"

"Pardon?" Wilson looked up at Ragna.

"... Can… talk…" Ragna's voice came out hoarse as if he had not talk for years.

Wilson sighed again, "You should've done that before." And went back to tending Ragna's right leg which immediately proceeded to the boy's right arm.

"...sOR- ry…"

Silence befell the two as the man was soon bandaging Ragna's left arm. He took a cotton ball and applied it with alcohol and lightly touch the boy's face, who flinched to the coldness of the cotton. The same occurred when Wilson's left hand lightly gripped the boy's chin and tend to his bruises with the right hand. It was awkward. For the boy at least.

"There, done." The man's touch released the boy and cleaned away the mess as he closed the kit and put it away. "Now a haircut," Wilson mumbled.

He felt a tug on his shirt and looked down to see the boy's hand. "What is it?" Wilson asked the boy, who shook his head, "You don't want it?"

"Y-... et…"

Wilson nodded, then sat down next to the boy. _What now,_ he thought again. He heard a growl next to him and looked at Ragna, who sheepishly looked away. Wilson laughed,  "you hungry?" The boy hesitantly nodded.

"C'mere." And the boy followed him downstairs.

The boy followed the man as they entered the kitchen area. The man gestured the boy to sit on one of the chairs to which the boy obeyed. He eyed the man who opened and took a bag of sliced bread and a jar of strawberry jam from the fridge and putting it down the table in front of Ragna. The man walked around again and grabbed a bread knife and handed it to the boy.

Ragna intensely stared at the knife bread and looked at Wilson who sat across him, eyebrows still knitted together. It took the man a few seconds as to the boy's reaction and gaped, "... Don't tell me you don't know how to spread jam on bread." When he looked at the boy who held a worried look in his eyes, he burst out laughing at the boy whose eyes widened to his reaction. For a short while, he had difficulty recollecting himself before apologizing to the boy.

"S-Sorry," Wilson held back his laugh which let out into a chuckle instead, "I've just never heard anyone in this god-awful world who doesn't know how to… spread jam on… the bread-" He loudly laughed again, slamming his fist down the table as he continued laughing, his other hand on his stomach. In a few seconds his laughed died down and glanced at the boy who was pouting as he held back the tears in his eyes.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry… alright?" The man heaved, and saw the boy nodded to his apology. "I'll teach you how, okay? Just like this." Wilson taught the boy about the spreading and breads, and in a few minutes the boy regained his smile back as he now knows how to- Wilson chuckled- spread spreading on breads. The man chuckled as he shook his head to such a childish behavior of the boy. It was as if he gained an achievement for saving the world. He found it amusing.

"Mmm!" The boy's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Wilson with sparkling eyes. The man chuckled and took a bite on his own bread, watching the boy devour his bread and ate another two more. Wilson stood up, his teeth lightly biting on the bread as he grabbed a carton of orange juice and poured a glass for Ragna, who gladly drank it down and let out a contented sigh. The man stared at him in amusement as he rests his chin on his hands as he leaned to the table. "So…" he stared at the boy and raised a brow, "have you ate your fill?" The boy enthusiastically nodded.

"Alright." The man stood up his chair, "Come. It's late." He went upstairs, knowing the boy will follow him and directed him to a door opposite the bathroom. The boy followed him inside as he opened the door and went in. The room was simple: The bed was at the left side of the room as he entered the room. Opposite the bed was a desk with a lamp on the side and a chair, in the middle was a cabinet with Windows by the sides with windows by the sides, and nightstands were on the both sides of the bed. "This will be your room," the man turned to the boy, "if you need anything, I will be in my room." The boy nodded. "Just remember to knock," Wilson snorted as he saw the boy look at him sheepishly.

"Well," the man stretched his arms and yawned, "good night." Wilson was about to head out until he heard the boy made a sound. He turned around and the boy boy replied, "G-... Good… nigh… t…" Wilson smirked at this and nodded, closing the door and went to his room to sleep.


	3. The Boy, the Mercenary, and the Old Man

**CHAPTER III**

It was 11 PM. Slade had not sleep. He only sat on the chair to his desk, hands clasped tight as his forehead rested on it. He was rethinking of the events that happened. Why, pray tell, did he took the boy with him. He is a mercenary, for crying out loud! Yet he took a boy in. Ah, is that it? Because the boy noticed him from above? Because the boy did not have the look of fear in his eyes when he descended from the roof and to the ground in front of him? Because he felt the boy relieved that he showed his presence that scared even the toughest of men in the world and the boy was not? Or is it because he saw potential when he looked into the boy's reflective amber and ice-blue eyes?

Slade shook his head. _Maybe,_ he thought.

He didn't fully know. He promised himself never to pick up another apprentice again as it would only bring about the worlds and focus their energy into forming the words 'karma' in doing so. Slade is a patient man, but he wouldn't want another betrayal coming his way. It'll ruin possible future plans if he had taken one under his wing once more. He can attest to that. With both Terra and Robin.

 **Stop.** The thinking gave him a headache. His fingers touched the bridge of his nose as he sighed. He stood up his seat and laid down the bed, eye closed, as he wait for himself to drift asleep.

* * *

It was around 4 AM that the mercenary was struggling in his sleep. He was grunting, debating in his head whether or not he should open his eyes or not. Something is not right. Then this strange feeling woke him up with his eyes flicking open and sitting up to see Ragna below him. His eyes widened to the boy. Wilson's legs were parted, his pants unzipped to see a hard on as the boy quietly play his tongue on his throbbing member.

"Ragna," the man grunted as the boy took a mouthful of his cock, "stop." He placed his hand on the boy's head, the boy moaned, sending vibrations to the twitching response of the man's member. In spasm, the man's hips jerked further into the boy's mouth, making Ragna gag but quickly recovered as he bobbed his head. Wilson knew that at the back of his head, this is simply wrong for a _child_ to do this, but right now, all he felt was the pleasure he was receiving from the boy's mouth and grabbed the boy's hair with both hands and slamming down the boy's throat continuously. The boy did not resist, closing his eyes as he let out small mewl, causing more vibrations.

 _This is wrong on so many levels._

"... Make more… noises…" Wilson grunted as thrusts into the boy's mouth and heard moans under him, he is definitely not backing out now. _It's so wrong._ The man thrust faster hearing the moans form louder, Wilson groaned, his eye closed as he sent few more quick powerful thrusts before coming into the boy's mouth. They were still until the man panted as he removed himself from the boy who swallowed his seed while visible traces ran down his mouth. He reached for tissues on the nightstand and cleaned himself up before zipping back his pants.

"You idiot," the man started, "what the hell did you think you were doing?!" Wilson growled as the boy flinched and shivered. The man tried to calm himself and told the boy quietly, "don't do that again. Children shouldn't be doing that." He heard the boy apologize in his native tongue, "I'm sorry…" Ragna's tears welling up and patter down the bed sheet, his body shook uncontrollably.

"Where did you learn that," the man's eyes narrowed as he spoke the language of the boy.

"They… told me that… it's a way to… thank them for… taking care of me…"

His eyes widened as echoes of the boy's words repeated in his head. His expression showed him furious. Who the hell treated this boy into making him their personal stress-relief?! Was it the them, the scientists of Kamui Labs? _Them?_ The man's hands curled into a fist, " _Them?"_ He growled the word out.  "What did they do to you?!" He grabbed the boy by the arms. The boy didn't answer, for he was too afraid of what will happen if he answer the man's question. Ragna was shaking under the man, he was terrified as he kept on muttering 'I'm sorry' over and over again. Wilson's anger subsided as he saw the boy terrified of his reaction and sighed, putting his arms around the boy to form an embrace. His eye showed pity for the boy. Why would anyone ever bother doing this to him?

After staying still in their tight brace, Wilson let go and asked, "are you well now?" Ragna responded with a nod as he sniffed, the man's finger removing the boy's tear coming down his cheek. "Don't do that again. Alright?" The man grabbed the box of tissues and cleaned the boy's mouth covered with his seed. "C'mon. I'll clean you up." The two went to the bathroom and Wilson did his job cleaning the boy and teaching him how to brush his teeth and its importance. "You go on ahead, I'll be there in a moment." The boy nodded again before he went downstairs, then the man, for an awkward, quiet breakfast.

A few minutes later, the silence was broken as the man instructed him, "I'll be away for a while. You stay here. You wouldn't want to go out like that now, would you?" The boy looked down, he was only wearing the man's white military shirt. Not even an underwear… the boy blushed and looked at the man, shaking his head. Wilson chuckled as he patted the boy's head, "good boy. I'll come back in the afternoon. Behave yourself." The mercenary walked out and closed the door, locking it from the outside. The boy stared at it for a few seconds before going upstairs. He could've sworn he has a window in his room. He hopped and sat on the edge of the wall as he watched the mercenary walking away.

Ragna's breath stopped for a moment as Wilson stopped walking and turned around and looked up at him. _Directly at him._ The man's white hair was so vibrant under the sunlight, it's beautiful, the boy thought. Ragna smiled and wave, then Wilson, who did the same along with a smirk of his own before walking away again.

Ragna stared outside for a while. It's so much nicer outside when the sun is out. If only it were the same at night… _What now,_ the boy thought until it was interrupted by a creaking sound downstairs. Ragna immediately ran down, thinking the man was back. Instead, he got greeted by someone else. The man looks more aged as his hair, too, was white. His eyes looked gentle until he eyed the boy with caution.

"Who are you?" The old man asked the boy who just glared at him and ran, upstairs to Slade's room, locking himself there.

* * *

William R. Wintergreen was asked by his old friend and master, Slade, to take care of the house as he had business to attend to. This was reported to him few days ago. But to see a boy in his master's shirt better not be part of the 'taking care' part of the report. He eyed the boy cautiously as the boy glared, he asked the boy, "who are you?" The boy ran upstairs, hearing a door slam shut.

Wintergreen stood still for a while before grabbing his phone to dial Slade's number. "There's a kid in your shirt," was the first thing he told as he heard the line was answered, "this better not be part of the 'taking care of the house,' Slade."

" _Too late. I took him in."_

William cussed, making Slade chuckle on the other side of the line. "And why, pray tell, did you?"

" _Oh, you know… just a happening."_

"Excuse my French, but I can sense bullshit from a mile away. So kindly explain why you took a child in. _Please,_ I implore." William walked around the kitchen.

" _Just take care of the boy."_ Slade sighed before hanging up. William glared at his phone before putting it away. _Damn him…_ he thought. He proceeded taking ingredients out of the fridge to make breakfast, for both himself, Slade, and the boy.

 _Why is it that I rarely have a say in this?_ William sighed.

* * *

Ragna sat on Slade's bed as he hugged his legs close to his chest. _Who is he?_ The boy's thoughts went to the old man. _Who is he,_ his thoughts repeated. No one should be here. No one in this district should be here. He checked. He swore he checked. Every nook and cranny, he checked. There should be no signs of life in this district. Just Wilson and himself.

"W-ils-… son…" _Where is he? Where did he go? Don't tell me he left me? I wanna see him. Please don't leave me. I'm scared. I'm scared. I'm scared. Help._ Ragna's body started shaking.

His thoughts were interrupted when he smelled something nice. He got himself off the bed and peeked his head out the door, the scent getting stronger. His stomach growled. He _literally_ just ate breakfast. Well, calling bread and jam isn't entirely a breakfast, Ragna thought, but he still ate it. And now his stomach is growling for more. He tiptoed his way downstairs and hugged himself by the wall as he peeked into the kitchen. He saw the old man cooking. No one's a bad man when they're cooking, right? … _Right?_

Ragna calmed himself down and slowly walked into the kitchen, nearing beside the man as he looked at the food he was cooking. It's just rice, the boy frowned. Yet his stomach still growled, he placed a hand on his stomach and heard the man beside him laughed, he glared.

"Don't worry you'll eat soon enough." The man told him.

Ragna raised a brow, not understanding the man's words. "Japanese. Please." The boy told the man, saying the words in English.

"Oh!" The man looked surprised, "well this might be troublesome," he mumbled. "I'm not entirely fluent in your language, boy. So all the other times I speak in another language than your own, I apologize in advance."

Ragna starred before nodding, "Name?"

"Oh, sorry," William adjusted himself to face the boy properly, "my name is William Wintergreen, an old friend of Master Slade. You are free to call me Will, dear child." The old man reached a hand out for a handshake. *"Virus?" The boy raised a brow to which William laughed at, "Heavens, no! It's 'Will' without a 'su', okay?" The boy nodded again before asking another question, " _Master Slade?_ Who?" The boy asked in confusion. The old man replied,  "That's Wilson's first name, Slade Wilson." _Oh,_ the boy mouthed.  "What's _your_ name?" The boy fell silent, nervous about not having a proper name.

 _Your name will be Ragnarök Cain. Understood?_

The boy gave a small smile as he remembered the event that happened last night. That's right, that's his name now, Ragnarök Cain. With a big smile, the boy pointed to himself and introduced himself with pride, "Ragnarök Cain! Ragnarök Cain!" William was taken aback by the boy's sudden pride and told him with a gentle laugh, "what a strange name! Who named you like that?"

"Wilson!" Ragna's smile still visible on his face.

"Oh," was all William let out. _That child and his naming sense, I swear…_ the old man sighed inwards.

"Will, I'm hungry."

William smiled again, the boy immediately used his nickname which was quite a change from all the names Slade had been calling him. It's been awhile since he heard 'Will.'

"Alright, alright. Just wait for a while, okay?" Ragna nodded before going to the living room just opposite the kitchen and sat on the couch, quietly waiting. _Food, food~_ the boy hummed. William noticed the numbers on the boy's nape, now realizing how the boy got his name. _I still blame his naming sense._

Few minutes passed, and just when Will was about to call for the boy, Ragna hopped off the couch and ran to the entrance and pounced off the ground and throwing his arms out for a hug. Will was surprised and took a peek at the boy by the entrance, it was Slade. Will was shocked. He didn't even hear anything, yet the boy did? However, he shook this off and walked to the entrance greeting the surprised mercenary, "hello," William smiled.

"Welcome back!" The boy smiled up at him, still in the boy's brace.

"Yeah…" was all that Slade replied.

William noticed that Slade was holding something with both his hands and asked, "what's in the bag, Slade?"

"Yes, nice to see you too, old man," Slade's eyes narrowed and frowned, seeing his old friend yet he didn't give a greeting, "Clothes. For the boy."

"Yes, yes, nice to see you too. Hello, Father of the Year."

"William?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Shut up and get the boy off me."

William laughed and did so, signalling the boy to let go, who was confused at first and finally got the hint. "There's brunch ready, Master Wilson."

"Brunch? Really?" Slade raised a brow while he heads upstairs with the bags as Ragna happily followed behind him to the boy's room.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Will?"

"Quiet." Slade chuckled to William's answer.

"Here you go." Slade put down the bags on the boy's bed they entered his room to which Ragna inspected. There were several tops in one bag, jackets in the other, pants in the third bag, socks and undergarments in the fourth, and several boxes of branded shoes in the last bag. The boy let out a surprised sound as his eyes sparkled at the clean clothes, then blinked. He looked at Slade, blinking several more times before pointing at the bags gaining a reply, "it's all yours, kid."

Ragna was ready to retaliate but the man interrupted, "if you're going to reject the clothes I bought just for you, you better be prepared to pay it back and go back to wearing the clothes that are supposed to be mine." Slade smirked as he took a seat on the chair opposite the bed as he crossed his legs and rests his chin on his hand by the armchair. "..." Ragna had no other choice but to accept it and grabbed the bags close to him and smiled just a bit, telling Slade, his voice soft, "... Thank.. you…" The man nodded before exiting the room and closing the door, "get changed into anything you like and come down for food once you're done."

* * *

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

"The boy. Your shirt. The hug. The bags of clothing. You. Explain. I'm all ears, old friend." William crossed his arms as he leaned back in his seat by the dining table in the kitchen.

"Eh," Slade shrugged. "Followed me last night. His are even beyond the term 'clothes.' I don't know. My poor shirts. What about me?" The mercenary answered chronologically to his friend's questions, leaving a confused William in the process. "What?" Was all William told him and Slade replied his own, "What? You told me to answer." Slade grabbed his glass and drank starting to eat rice balls.

" _Ragnarök Cain,_ Slade? Really?" William began eating as well.

"You've seen the tattoo, didn't you?" Slade asked, seeing his friend nod, "then now you know."

"And Cain?"

"I was reading Cain and Abel."

William stared.

"Quiet. Just… quiet." Slade answered before proceeding to chew on the piece of fish meat.

William sighed, digressing the topic. It wasn't long until Ragna came down to the kitchen to eat. The two men eyed the boy as William started with a gentle smile on his face, "Oh, it fits you, Ragnarök!" Ragna blushed slightly at the comment. It's weird to hear his name from someone else, but in a good way. It was Slade who named him after all.

Ragna was wearing a plain black shirt that reached slightly to his thighs, the sleeves folded to see an orange color on the inside. He also wore a desert cargo shorts that ends just above the knees and only wore black knee socks. Slade eyed the boy a little longer before commenting, "yeah, you look good," and continued feasting on his meal. Ragna smile at the man's comment and immediately sat on the seat next to Slade. _Wow,_ Ragana was amazed by the food on the table, a simple dish of fish and a bowl of rice, and a plateful of rice balls on the side of the fish. He melted when he tasted the fish and let out a content sigh, making William and Slade quietly chuckle in their seats as the three of them ate peacefully.

* * *

Wintergreen didn't plan on staying, but he did prepare extra meals so the two have something to live off of other than bread and spreading. So he stayed until evening to prepare dinner before leaving. He told Slade of a personal business to attend to along with taking a break, which was granted of him. He smiled, waving to the boy who was peeking by the walls.

"You're leaving?" Ragna's brows knitted together.

"Alas," William nodded sadly.

"You'll… come back?" The boy left the shadows and stood in the light, his face expressing concern.

"I don't know. I hope so." William told the boy as if a whisper.

Ragna sadly looked down when he nodded, returning to the shadows he once hid in and upstairs to his room. "Bye-bye," the copper-haired told him last, receiving a 'goodbye' as well. Finally disappearing in the dark corners of the empty district.

Slade, too, finally went upstairs after activating a security system in the house. He went to the bathroom, grabbed a towel, and took his clothes off as he showers. In it, he pondered, the events of the afternoon seeming to be weird. When heading to his hideout, or house, in this situation, he always keeps his footsteps light and quiet in case an intruder appeared. It has always been a habit of his to do so. Yet somehow, when he opened the door to the entrance of the house, he was immediately detected by the child. How? Maybe the boy either has a keen sense of hearing, or a superpower to detect nearby presence. Or maybe he just got lucky.

 _Bullshit,_ there's no such thing as luck. Just coincidence. Yes, a coincidence, that's what it is. Maybe the boy was running around the house and tripped only to grabbed at him in an embrace. That must be it. But then the kid didn't look like the kind to run around. He looks more mature than that. More tamed. His nose flared to the word: _Tamed._ His hands curled into balls of fist. Gripping hard, his nails dug further into his flesh, making his palms bleed. His mind flashed to the events that happened this morning. Why would he do that? Moreover, why didn't he stop it? He was disgusted not only at the people who made the boy do that, but also at himself. He didn't stop the boy, he let him continue.

 _Damn it,_ he uttered under his breath before turning the shower off and dry himself, going to his own room and dressing himself before going to bed, his head resting on one of his arms as the other covers his stomach, eyes up to the ceiling. The closed door creaked open and his head turned to see who it was.

"Kid." He called, the boy slightly hesitating whether he should enter the room further or stay there until he was ordered to. "Didn't I tell you to knock before you enter a room?"

The boy stilled for a moment before his knuckles knocked on the door, half his figure still outside and the other in the room. Slade chuckled, raising his hand as he gestured for the boy to come in. Ragna immediately walked in, closing the door before standing still by the end of the bed.

The two were quiet for a while until the older interrupted the silence, "what?"

The boy's eyes shifted everywhere so long as he avoided the man's gaze. "Bed. Cold."

Slade snorted, "well, it's not here either. Go to sleep." He told the younger as he shifts his body away from the boy and the door as he closes his eye. His eye opened again as he felt weight on the other side of the bed changed and turned his body to the boy who was lying down, faces closer than a few inches. The boy was greatly shivering now that he looked closely. He inhaled his sigh as he try to nonchalantly place an arm around the boy's back and pull him close, the boy's head buried in his chest.

The boy, confused, struggled in the man's embrace but stopped when the man whispered, "sleep." The boy continued struggling, but quickly became tired, giving up as the embrace grew tighter when he tried to struggle free.

The boy, still slightly troubled, eventually tried his best to relax, and finally went to sleep into the man's warmth. Not long after, the man drifted asleep as well.

* * *

*Virus is pronounced in Japanese as 'Uirusu', so Ragna confused William's nickname (pronounced 'Uiru') and mispronounced it as 'Virus.'

 **A/N:** Also, I apologize for _that sudden introduction._ No, really, I am. I'm sorry. :O


	4. The Boy, On an outing

**CHAPTER IV**

Midnight.

Ragna awoke in the middle of the night, eyes flicking open. Did he fell asleep? He tried to shift his body and felt the weight around him. The man's arm was still around him. Oh, _this_ is not good. He started shivering again as he slid under the older's arm, successful. He got up and went to the bathroom and opened the shower, turning the knob to a cold temperature. He didn't even care for the clothes anymore, he just needs out of this… _situation._ He thought as he continued to shiver in the cold water.

"What are you doing?"

Ragna jumped as his head faced the the door to see Slade. The boy shook his head as he covered himself with his arms hugging his knees, trying his best to look him straight in the eye, but continued to shiver.

Slade narrowed his eye at the boy before him. His clothes are wet and the shower is on, the boy sitting in the middle of it, shivering. His eye slightly widen to the realization. Immediately, he asked, "do you even know how to take care of yourself?" The boy gave the man a questioning look, but nodded confused. Ragna saw the look in Slade's eye, he must've known when he saw the boy sitting in the shower. That's why he asked him if he can take care of himself.

"No. You don't know, do you?"

Slade walked in further, making Ragna jump and immediately crawled with his back against the wall then hugging himself as he closed his eyes. Words of 'I'm sorry' kept on repeating under his breath, but Slade didn't pay attention to that. He went in the shower and knelt down, grabbing one of the younger's arms. Ragna's eyes opened in surprise and shook his head, "Your clothes…!"

"They're fine, I'll change later."

"But-"

" _Later."_

Silence ensued as the shower continued to run.

"Do you even know _how_ to masturbate?"

The boy looked up questioningly, "masturbate? What's that?"

 _Oh, great. I'd laugh, but I'm too serious for this. He knows how to suck, but he didn't know how to touch himself?_ the older though sarcastically. Slade took a deep breath,  "it's another way to _take care_ of yourself. I'll teach you, alright?" The boy gave a hesitant nod as he closed his eyes, ashamed of himself. Even in situations like these, he was being helped. How shameful.

Slade's hands went to the boy's knees and slowly spread them. The boy didn't even hesitate. Slade saw the boy's bulge and unbuttoned, unzipped the boy's pants. A hand immediately went to man's hands, Ragna opened his eyes and looked at the man and shook his head, still surprised. "No. It's necessary." Slade replied as he pulled the pants down to the boy's ankles.

Ragna flinched as his erection was free from his pants and blushed from embarrassment as Slade can _see_ him all and started to cover himself by closing his legs but was stopped by the older's hands on both knees, spreading them wider.

"Put your hand onto yourself."

Ragna looked at the man then himself, shakily put his hand on himself. He gasped to the feeling and stopped, waiting for Slade to say something.

"Stroke yourself."

And Ragna did, his hand sliding up and down. " _Ah,"_ the boy moaned. What was that? Ragna stroked further. The sensation was new to him that he couldn't help himself let out a loud moan, his strokes going faster with his legs bucking into his own hand, leaking pre-cum. Ragna's eyes slowly opened and looked into Slade's with pleasure spread across his own eyes.

 _Shit,_ Slade gritted his teeth. The view below him was very… _desirable._ He kept thinking that it's just a kid, just a kid. But the way this 'kid' looks at him was slowly driving him crazy. He couldn't help himself but look back and he saw the boy's cheeks heat up, moaning louder each time he stroke himself under the cold shower.

Instantly, Slade grabbed the boy's hands and pinned it to the wall, burying his face onto the boy's shoulder. "Fuck. _Fuck."_ Slade muttered, pulling his pants down to show his own erection.

Ragna's eyes widened to the man's size. He was _huge._ Compared to his own, it was nothing alike. His thoughts interrupted went Slade's hand went to his erection and pressed himself onto the boy's hard member. Ragna moaned again, louder. Slade's legs parted the boy's wider and thrusts his hips feeling the friction of both their erect members.

The throbbing, twitching, heating cock above Ragna was giving him pleasure and bucked his hips more. His moaning never seeming to die down as he moaned to Slade's ear. Slade grunted in response and bit the boy's ear lightly. He set the boy's hands free as it clung to the back of his shirt, gripping tightly.

"Slade… _Slade, ahhh,"_ the boy moaned into his ear.

 _Dammit,_ the man cussed. The boy having to be calling his name is not helping. He put a hand around his cock and the boy's and started pumping fast, feeling each other nearing their climax. Few more strokes and the two came together, their seed mixing as it hit the boy to his face and down to his stomach.

The two panted into each other's ears until Slade sat up to look at Ragna. _Oh, shit._

Ragna was panting, face flushed and eyes dazed, legs, slightly twitching, parted wide as his dick died down. Their mixed cum slowly being washed away by the still opened shower. Ragna's chest raised and lowered until he regained his breathing back to normal, he feels his eyes getting heavy and mumbled a 'thank you' as he fell asleep, lastly seeing Slade's face.

* * *

Ragna slowly gained consciousness as the ray of sunlight met his eyes. He put a hand to cover his eyes from the sun and sat up, yawning. He was back in his own room, back in his own bed. He looked at the side of the bed and saw the alarm clock. 9:41 AM, it says. Wow, he slept that long? He yawned again as he stretched his arms, trying to remember what happened last.

His eyes widened, finally remembering what happened before he slept. He was in the shower, _masturbating._ In front of _Slade._ Then he _fell asleep_. He placed his hands onto his face as he felt himself heating up. How embarrassing. _What now?_ How should he face him. His stomach growled then he placed a hand on his stomach. He can tell there will be another awkward breakfast. He got off the bed, and slowly went downstairs, trying not to make a sound, but failed after he heard Slade say, "good morning."

The boy jumped and turned around to see Slade just behind him. He nodded, looking down as he tried to avoid looking at the man.

"You just woke up?"

Ragna nodded.

"Are you hungry?"

Ragna paused then nodded.

"Alright. C'mere." Slade went down the stairs, yawning. Ragna hesitated for a bit but followed him soon after.

Ah, yes. The boy predicted right, it _was_ quite an awkward breakfast. Again. The boy kept glancing at Slade, who was silently eating. And when Slade looks back, Ragna immediately tried to avoid his gaze. _So awkward._ Just about when he decided to glance up again, he met the sharp blue eye of the man and choked. Slade laughed as he handed a glass of water to the boy who drank it in one go and sighed.

"So, what's troubling you?" Slade rested his chin on his hand.

"L… last night…" Ragna looked down, ears flushing red from embarrassment.

"I was just teaching you." Slade told him firmly, nodding to his statement.

"Thank you." Ragna thanked Slade, still looking down. He heard Slade grunted in acceptance and continued his meal.

"I should teach you English."

Ragna finally looked up, surprised at the comment. "Yes?"

"You should learn other languages, actually. Can't have you just speaking in one language forever." Slade mumbled. "I'm kinda getting tired of speaking in Japanese as well. I miss talking in English. Just when I gave Wintergreen his break…"

Ragna laughed, surprising the mercenary. He hadn't heard the boy laugh since he took him in. So it was quite a surprise.

"You… you, keep changing languages… I don't understand!" Ragna laughed again.

Seeing the child smile made Slade smile a bit before coughing it away and telling him, "I'll be speaking English from hereon."

"Eh?" Was all that Slade received from the boy, his laughing stopped.

Slade stared with his eyebrows raised. "Understood?"

"Eh? Eh? Um, yes?" The boy looked at Slade confusingly before nodding hesitantly.

Slade smirked amused, "good boy." He patted the boy's head across his seat and stood up to clean his dishes, leaving the boy completely puzzled.

* * *

Slade was right, he has no intentions of speaking in Japanese at all. Ragna was so puzzled, he thought the man was joking but he should've known better. Slade looked like a man who take thing seriously to begin with. Ragna should've listened. Now his day felt so confusing with all the English words he was hearing, it makes his head want to explode.

 _How frustrating!_ The boy thought as he plumped down his bed face first to the pillow. At the very least, he was glad it's not awkward anymore. It's not awkward anymore but! Now it's just making him confused! But he also felt like he was starting to understand what Slade was saying sometimes.

"Ragna!"

The boy heard the man called out to him. Ragna got off the bed and head out his room, hands leaning onto the banister to see Slade in another outfit. He wore the the same outfit he saw him the other day, a black beater and the white military shirt halfway buttoned up as he wore a black trench coat and black jeans with some Doc Martens.

 _Just how grim is this man and his fashion sense to be wearing all black?_ Ragna internally asked, later adding, _Ah, but he looks good, though._

"I'm heading out." Slade gestured his hand, pointing at the door. Ragna nodded, understanding what the man was telling him.

"You want to go with me?"

Ragna blinked and tilted his head. Slade gestured again.

"You. Go. With me."

Slade pointed at Ragna, the door, then to himself. Ragna smiled wide and nodded, immediately going to his room and opened his closet to find clothes to wear. He decided with a white sleeveless zip-up hoodie and a plain black medium-sleeved shirt underneath, with a pair of black ripped jeans and a white combat boots, the only colored part of his outfit was an orange belt with straps coming on to the sides. Ragna facepalmed, his fashion is just as grim as Slade's.

Few seconds later, he recollected himself and hurriedly went downstairs, Slade apparently still waiting for him with his back turned against the staircase. Ragna tapped the man's shoulder, who turned around to see Ragna all dressed up. He chuckled, "How grim."

Ragna felt like he understood what Slade had said and replied, "look at yourself." Slade laughed in response. The two went out of the house, Slade locking the door and walked on out of the empty district, Ragna following behind him.

* * *

The city of Tokyo in the evening is absolutely beautiful to look at. Seeing a place crowded with people, Ragna has never been in droves before, his eyes sparkle with excitement, eyeing every corner of his surroundings. It wasn't long until Slade snapped him back to reality. "Kid, where do you want to go?"

Ragna turned around, surprised at the man's question, "Eh, go? Where?"

"Did you have to repeat what I just said," Slade chuckled at the now sheepish boy who mumbled an apology. Slade asked again, "Where do you want to go, Ragnarök?"

This time, Ragna looked at Slade again. Hearing godfather say his name is so makes the inside of his chest feel warm. When Wintergreen had said his name, he was happy but he did not feel a warm feeling like he did now from all the way to his stomach. He could've sworn there was butterflies in his stomach when Slade had spoken of his name. He shook his head, finally giving Slade an answer. "S-Somewhere peaceful!"

Slade blinked, then laughed, much to Ragna's surprise. "Alright," Slade replied.

"Why did you laugh?" Ragna's brow raised questioningly.

"I thought you'd be a bit more excited going into the city." The older man smiled as he looked at the younger beside him.

"Hm? Eh? What?" Ragna walked side by Slade, looking puzzled.

 _Right. I forgot this kid has limited vocabulary in English._ He looked away from the boy, sighing lightly. _He improves quickly, however. So I guess it's fine. It must be because he spent years just being in a lab._

Slade blinked and stopped walking. Ragna bumped into his back, hands massaging his nose from the sudden collision. "Hey, why did we stop walking?" The teen popped his head to the front to see Slade's expression turned serious.

"... Wilson?"

Slade's head snapped back to Ragna's face, who jolted to his sudden movement, "yes?"

"Are, are you okay?" The boy's words stuttered in concern.

Slade nodded, "I'm fine." A pause. "Let's go." They resumed walking.

* * *

The park at night was pretty peaceful. Only few people were there at night with little to no disturbance or screaming children running around being chased by other kids. Slade chuckled. Ragna was smiling as he was eyeing around his surroundings, "this is nice."

"Kid, you're no fun," the man laughed.

Ragna looked at Slade questioningly. _No fun. How do you gesture fun, anyway?_ Slade looked at his hands and did a sign language to the boy. This resulted Ragna to stare. _Of course it didn't work._

But it did, on the contrary. Ragna laughed, "oh yeah, what's _your_ definition of fun?"

Slade's brow raised, intrigued that the boy knew at least another language. Useful one at that. "Hm, arcade, maybe?"

"Arcade?" Ragna's head tilted.

"*GeSen."

"Ah, I've heard of that one! They said it's really fun there!" The boy's face beamed, "I've never been there before."

"Let's go then."

* * *

Slade was right. It was pretty fun. Strobes of light by the dark corners of the room, cubicles to the sides where Ragna can see them playing a game. Well, almost all of the people in the room were playing, the others spectate the ones playing. Boy, it was also pretty crowded. Slade was by the counter and received a card from the man behind it. Slade walked back to Ragna, giving him a smirk as he holds the card in the air.

"What's that?"

"A card to play any games you desire in this place." Slade told the boy as well as gesturing him in signs.

"Ohh," Ragna let out an impressed tone.

"So," Slade eyed each machine he can visualize, "where to?"

Ragna pointed to a machine very eagerly. House of the Dead 4. Ragna was eyeing the machine for a while when they got here. There were red and blue guns holstered into a stand as they near the machine. Immediately, they played. Ragna was enjoying the game until he felt stares behind his and Slade's back. It was slightly disturbing but he didn't mind it all and continued with the game. Minutes passed and they had finally beaten the game. Ragna found the final boss slightly annoying as he had to shoot and reload faster than he should've, to which Slade laughed at since he never died even once the entire game play. After enjoying a little celebration, they turned round to see some people behind them, some in awe, some impressed, some… ogling? The girls were eyeing and then giggling at them, specifically as they were avoiding his stares.

"Hey, hey," Ragna tugged Slade's coat,who turned his head to the boy, "what are they laughing about?" Ragna pointed to the group of women in their little crowd. They were giggling again, which Ragna was finding annoying.

Slade chuckled as an answer.

Ragna gave a pouty glare, "what is it?"

"They fancy you."

"Fancy?"

"Like. Admire. Interested in. And any other words synonymous to that." Slade signed.

"Oh," Ragna blushed, "th-they 'fancy' me?" The younger lowered his voice to a whisper.

Slade snorted, "no need to be embarrassed." Then his voice, too, lowered, muttering next to Ragna's ear, "I fancy you too."

Ragna's blush deepened. Slade laughed. If it's anyone they should be looking at, it'd have to be Slade instead, Ragna thought. He's tall and attractive, possibly charming and all that. Though, he's probably sure they _were_ looking at him since some women were sending leers and winks at him. This got Ragna to glare at them and did an unthinkable. Gave them a finger. The group of women flinched while some squealed at his sudden rude behavior. The one benefiting the most was Slade as he watched, eyes amused to the scene before him. The two later went home after a late night. The two fell asleep almost instantly after they both said their good nights and lay on their own beds in their own rooms.

* * *

Months passed that Ragna finally seem to understand English. He was getting used to the language that he grew attached to it and started speaking himself in that language. Slade gave him occasional praise when his grammar was correct or being corrected and saying it again. It was nice, Slade was right, he should learn some more language. He had a discovery just a few days after they went out, learning is fun. Especially when it comes to art and languages. He even started sketching. It was semi-realistic but he liked his style.

That, and his casual singing, or humming as he sketch. There were times where Slade bothered Ragna just to convince him to sing, to which the boy embarrassingly decline. At those times, he can see Slade's eye hiding a sad smile. He hates it when he does that. He will feel guilty and later ask him what song he would like for him to sing, receiving an 'anything you want' as an answer. It was slightly embarrassing, but to see Slade's eye closed in satisfaction made him feel a bit confident.

"Ragna." He heard a knock on the door. Ragna sat up the bed and got off it to open the door to see Slade wearing the armor he saw when they first met in the dark alley of the city. "Slade?"

"I'll be away for awhile. I've already called Wintergreen to come here, so it'll be fine if you want to talk to someone."

"Wait, you're going away?"

"Only for a contract."

"Right," Ragna said. He almost forgot this man is a mercenary. Yet, why did he took him in, he wondered. "How long will you be away?"

"Not sure. It's up north, however. To Russia."

"Wait, _what?"_ Ragna's face showed shock, "it's in _Russia?"_

Slade smirked, "I told you, I'm not sure when or _if_ I'll even return. That's why I had Wintergreen to come here and keep you company."

"... Alright." Ragna nodded slightly. Ragna knew better than to say 'let me go with you' or 'no, don't go' and other things like that. This is Slade's job. Ragna has no say on what job he should take. He's just an outsider took in by the man after all.

"Okay." Slade nodded back before putting on his mask with his trademark colors of black and orange before going out in the dark.

"Take care!" Ragna shouted out his window. Slade waved, still walking away.

* * *

Wintergreen smiled to himself. Slade called him to take care of the boy and the house, and very much and eagerly accepted Slade's request. After all, he get to see Ragna again. The boy is sweet, he was quite like a son to him in such a short time they spent together. Finally arriving at the same lonely district, he headed for the hideout and searched his pocket for a spare key to enter the house. "Ragnarök?" He called out.

"Wintergreen?"

Ragna went downstairs and saw the old man, he smiled. "Wintergreen! It's been awhile!"

"Oh? You're speaking English." Wintergreen sounded surprised, Ragna grinned.

"Yes, Slade taught me how." Ragna nodded.

"And Master Wilson? May I ask where he is?"

"Gone. He just went away earlier. Said he heads up north, to Russia."

"Oh, my, and you, child?"

"What about me," Ragna blinked.

"Are you… okay?"

"I'm fine, slightly sad but fine anyways," Ragna gave a smile.

Wintergreen laughed.

"Hm? What's so funny?"

"You sounded different than you were just months earlier."

"I got to see the world, William! It was really nice! There were droves here and there almost everywhere you go! It's nice to see once in awhile!" Ragna told stories about what happened in just a mere week as Ragna helped Wintergreen with his belongings upstairs to another room, chatting away.

* * *

Ragna found himself on his bed when he woke up. He looked at the clock, 5:29 AM. _Wow,_ Ragna thought. He had never woken up this early after he… did _that_ to Slade. Ragna's face heated. Or when he was _that_ in the bathroom. He shook his head, got himself off the bed and wore thick clothing to go outside the cold morning as he roamed around the abandoned district. Only to be never seen again as a hand covered his mouth and a black cloth blinded his vision as he was being taken away by a vehicle.

"Welcome back, Subject R976."

* * *

*GeSen is arcade or more accurately, 'Game Center'. In Romanji, they pronounced Game Center as 'geemu sentaa', shortened, 'GeSen.'


	5. The Boy, Abandoned

**CHAPTER V**

Two years later…

The Teen Titans had fought and won. They had won against the Brotherhood of Evil. And it took them a year to end it all. That may have been their longest battle yet. It wasn't until a year later after their battle with the Brotherhood of Evil did crime rates died down. There were no Dr. Light, no Johnny Rancid, no Mumbo, no Mad Mod. There were no villains that committed crimes, just some non-powered humans running and stealing around their Jump City. They have fought crimes but not so often now.

The Teen Titans are starting to get bored, really.

Not unless they already are.

So it excited them to know that one day, a mysterious creature attacked their city and their tower. Which should not be something that they should be excited for since what it was doing to the city is wrong. They were excited anyway. _Finally,_ they all had thought as they soon defeated the one destroying the city. They interrogated him inside the tower but didn't exactly understood what the man was saying. Robin was thankful for the newly upgraded system they had in the interrogation room, as it can translate languages known to man.

They asked the man again, knowing that they'll understand what the man, identified as Saico-Tek, will say. Saico-Tek confessed, he was luring the Titans to capture him just to send a message, " _Brushogun."_

* * *

It took them two and a half days to reach Japan, and another week to defeat Brushogun. Robin planned on leaving, returning to Jump City while the others retaliated reasoning that they have earned a week of vacation after all the events that just happened, adding to the fact that there's nothing more to do in Jump City as the police can manage because of the decreasing crime rate. Robin simply nodded, understanding their reason and gave themselves an official week-long vacation in Tokyo, Japan.

* * *

In the western part of Hokkaido…

Lies a hidden underground passage by an empty space in the woods of the mountains. Very few knew of the place, and they were discreet about going into it. Inside the said passage lies a long tiled hallway, one can never see doors until they have reached the very end of the hallway. The door was huge as if it one were to enter the gates of heaven. Or hell.

Going beyond the door is a wide room. Another hallway with more doors this time. To the right, just by the entrance, is a room with desks and chairs. It might as well be an office. Similar can be seen on the left door by the entrance. Passing by midway are the second set of doors. To the left is a small kitchen, to the right is a dining area of sorts. The last set of doors by the end are areas identified as a laboratory to the left and a storage for chemicals to the right.

At the end of the path is another large door. Entering this door, one can see a large cylinder tank in the center of the room with wires underneath it, connecting to machines that encircled it. Attached to the front of the tank is a screen that shows something or someone's lifeline.

The tank was empty, however. Glass shards were scattered to the ground as well as traces of blood throughout the room. By the ceiling, machines, tiled floor, the walls, and corpses that were lying on the ground. The lights from the screens of computers and the ceiling were flickering, ready to die out.

Until it finally did, a silhouette appeared behind the tank, wearing a dead guy's lab attire. The man looked around the room before exiting, walking past another wide room then to the entrance. He lifted the door successfully and went out the hidden passage. Letting go, the door's weight echoed throughout the area as it shuts close. No presence to be heard or sighted.

The survivor looked up at the starry night sky, breathing in and out, finally sighing.

" _Slade."_ The man muttered.

* * *

"Woohoo! That's right! Ladies and gentlemen… and half-robot, it is officially the first day of Teen Titans vacation!"

Beast Boy announce with excitement. Starfire and Cyborg cheered with the shape shifter. "Alright, alright, quiet down. I usually wake up late, but this time, it's different! I planned an outing for us last night, so you better appreciate what I did for us!"

"No one asked for you to plan it." Raven's trademark monotonous tone echoed the small room they were all staying in. Someone planned last night to have a Titan Sleepover. Whoever it was, Raven will get revenge for.

"Yo, where's Robin?" Cyborg's head shifted to the sides looking for Robin.

"He's probably doing his usual morning rituals," Beast Boy shrugged.

"Please, should Robin not be here to join our long of week vacation?" Starfire's brow raised.

"He'll be fine! He'll be here in a sec! Maybe." Beast Boy muttered the last word.

The door clicked open as the Boy Wonder entered the room.

"Speaking of, he's here! See?"

"Hey," Robin greeted, "what's up with you guys all huddled up?"

"Beast Boy made plans, which I will forever least hear from his mouth." Raven shifted in her seat as she reads her book.

"Plans? What plans?"

Beast Boy grinned, "it's the Super Amazing Teen Titans Vacation Plan made by yours truly."

"Huh," Robin nodded, going along with Beast Boy's words, "and what is this 'super amazing' plan of yours, exactly?"

Beast Boy's grin went wider as he explained his plan on going on a trip to Chiba and sight see, then going to a beach somewhere, following with a cuisine in the area, and finally go to an arcade to end the day. The Titans were slightly surprised, with the exception of Starfire who was all excited for their trip, that Beast Boy made a decent plan about the trip and agreed to do it. The group packed and dressed in civilian clothes as they sneaked away from the press that was on standby the entrance of the apartment they rented in.

* * *

The man stumbled upon an empty house and searched for warmer clothing in the closet. As much as Hokkaido has warmer temperature in the West doesn't mean it's not cold. It's Hokkaido after all, the coldest region of Japan. Searching for what seemed hours as he looked for a size that fits him, he wore a white duffel coat and scarf, and an all-black wool shirt, leather gloves, belt, jeans, socks and boots underneath. He smiled, reminiscing a memory about having grim fashion sense. And he still does. Immediately, he opened the window by the bed and jumped out of it, sensing few presences approaching the house.

He plans and head for Tokyo, be it on foot or transportation. But for now, he might as well stay on foot. It might take days, however. No, it _will_ take days. So he thought of a third option. A way to get to Tokyo in just an hour or two. He closed his eyes and cleared his mind, focusing on his goal. He later felt his hands shift into a different shape. He smirked. _So it_ _does_ _work._ He closed his eyes and cleared his head again, focusing the change onto his back.

His back bones tried to thump out of his back and successfully sprouted wings from his wounds. He sighed and tried to spread his wings with success. _Here goes._ He thought as he started flapping the wings. His feet left the ground and with haste, he flew further up into the sky, vibrant red wings hid in the clouds as he now head for Tokyo.

* * *

A few hours later and he has arrived finally. He headed to where his place were once was. It was still there. It was still there but more… dark. It looks as if it was abandoned. He gently landed on the concrete floor and slowly walked a few steps toward the house and stopped. His arm reached at the house, a stitch pattern spreading from his feet and across the house. He used this to try and feel any presence in the house. There were none. His arm retracted and he immediately started walking to the house in a slightly faster pace.

His hands reached the doorknob, twisted it, and pushed the door open. His expression looked surprised. Everything was dark. He didn't bother flipping the switch on because he felt like there were no longer electricity running in this place without Slade to attend to it with his wits. He remembered the long hallway, the way to the kitchen, the living room, and then upstairs. He headed upstairs. It was also dark. Much darker than downstairs. There were no windows unless he enters one of the rooms, to which he did, in his own.

His old room glowed due to the sun setting down. _How… orange,_ He thought. He walked around the room while his hands were feeling every furniture and belongings he once had. The closet. He looked at it for a few seconds before wondering if his clothes still remained there. He opened it slowly, expecting it to be there. It was not.

 _Of course not,_ he thought, closing it again.

He walked out of the room and closed the door as he head for Slade's room. He opened and explored the room, doing the same gesture as he did in his own room. He opened the closet, expecting another disappointment but did not.

Slade's mask lies in the center of the wooden closet.

His eyes widened, his trembling hands reaching for the mask. He took a close inspection of it before deciding to keep it. It was rusty, few cracks were by the sides and the eye hole, his thumb circled around it. His lips tugged up lightly into a small smile as he tries to wear the mask on his head.

"Wow," he whistled. It's not as difficult to breathe than he thought it would be. It was also quite comfortable to wear. It fits perfectly to his head. It's as if he's wearing another layer of skin. The man shivered to the thought and laughed aloud.

He went quiet as he left the hideout, Slade's mask in his hand, never seeming to let go of it as he walked away into a crowded district. He wandered aimlessly around the streets as he constantly thought to himself,

 _I've been abandoned._

* * *

 **A/N:** Yeahhh... Nothing much here.

Oh, well. /shrug


	6. The Boy, now a Teen, Rediscovered

CHAPTER VI

The sun soon set as the Titans had enjoyed their trip in Chiba. All were satisfied as they rested into their seats after ordering their meals. Beast Boy and Cyborg sighed at the same time and laughed to the realization. "Hah," Beast Boy sighed, "I am so glad we decided to stay here for awhile."

"You and me both, BB." The half-robot leaned further in his seat.

"Yeah," Robin joined the conversation, "I'm impressed with how you planned this well, Beast Boy. Well done."

"Oh, thanks, man!" Beast Boy smiled.

"I guess there's a smart in stupidity." Raven mumbled.

"Yes! It has been most fun, friend Beast Boy! I enjoyed the part where you were riding the waves on the wooden board and above the water to do tricks!" Starfire smiled brightly as she clasped her hands.

Silence engulfed the table as they stared at her.

"Let's do this again sometime, then!" Robin smiled at Starfire, who smiled back.

"You, lovers, get a room!" Beast Boy teased along with a grinning Cyborg by his side.

The Boy Wonder and the Tamaranian blushed then Robin glared at the two who just laughed. Raven coughed, alerting the others about the incoming appetizers. The group talked over silly things as they wait for the main course which later became a talk of rearranging and redecorating the Titan's Tower for some unknown reason. The issue continued on until it changed just a few moments later until their food arrived, further conversation ensuing.

It was already night when they returned to Tokyo. Robin decided to cancel Beast Boy's plan on going to an arcade for another day, much to Beast Boy and Cyborg's disappointment. Instead, they decided to head back to the place they were staying in, planning that this time, they rent separate rooms as Raven complained.

They were, however, stopped as they noticed a man bumping into almost everyone as be aimlessly walked onwards holding something that made their eyes widened. Robin's trademark command rung the others ears and did what they do, "Titans, go!"

* * *

The man, annoyed of the noises he is hearing, grew tired of being in the crowd and decided to walk into a dark alley. He would most definitely like it since it was much more peaceful than it is in a crowd. And he thanked himself for that idea because he felt as if someone was glaring daggers behind him and quickened his pace to successfully be in the alley as he heard, "Titans, go!"

* * *

The group of teens ran after the man who entered an alley and found him standing from afar just when they walked in. They were surprised to see the man holding Slade's mask just waiting for them to do something, anticipating their moves.

"Hey," Cyborg whispered as his blaster was aimed at the man, "that's Slade's mask, right? Don't tell me…"

"Could that possibly be… Slade?" The shape shifter gulped.

Raven's eyes glowed white, trying to inspect the man, finally informing her team, "it's not him."

Robin's head turned to Raven by his side, then to the man in front, "guess we'll have to find out who he is is then. Who is he to Slade?" His eyes narrowed to the man.

* * *

The man could only kept quiet in surprise, they know who Slade is? He snorted, not that it concerns me. He averted his eyes from the Titans to Slade's mask, a thumb circling around the eyehole. He stared at it for a while before wearing the mask again and looked at the Titans. He stood, hands clasped on his lower back, chest out with pride, and his amber eye staring, waiting for someone to make a move.

* * *

"Are you sure he's not Slade? Because he is seriously acting like him and it's giving me the creeps." Beast Boy mumbled to his group as he shivered.

"If anything, he should be wearing his armor by now," Cyborg dryly replied.

"Perhaps he, too, is on vacation?" Starfire interrupted.

"Hah, that's funny, Star!" Robin snorted, "a sicko on a vacation? Really, well done."

"Thank you?"

Robin's masked eyes focused on the man, similar posture… but it's not him. Who is he? His hand pointed to the man and signaled, "Titans, go!"

The group scattered with Beast Boy shifting into a cheetah and attacked forward but the man's foot went to his head and jumped forward to Robin and attacked with a weapon in hand. Robin was surprised when the man attacked him. He didn't see the man carrying anything but the mask earlier, so how come he has one now? His bo-staff was sliced in half after he leapt back to grab a birdarang and threw it at him. The man threw his head sideways, dodging the weapon and flipped up in the air when he sensed Beast Boy about to hit behind him, dodging another attack. While in the air, Starfire took the chance to shoot green bolts at the man but was blocked when bricks from the walls moved by itself to cover the man.

Just when the man was about to land, a blue beam hit him back to a wall with a loud thud. In the process, on his knees about to stand up, encircled a shadow below him and held him down. The man struggled before he saw a blaster with a neon blue at its tip aimed at him. "Don't move." Cyborg told him. And he did, much to Cyborg's surprise hidden behind his eyes.

The Titans surrounded the man, Robin still far from him, limping after the man dodged Beast Boy's attack and hit him instead, to which the shifter repeatedly apologized for earlier. "Who are you," Robin started. "Where did you get that," Robin's hand want to Slade's mask and removed it from the man, "this mask."

The man gasped as Robin threw the mask to the side, but did not budge. Instead Robin's fists were around the man's collar and asked him again, "Who are you?"

* * *

"Subject R976." The man monotonously stated. The group of teens looked at each other with puzzled expressions.

He stated again, "Subject R976," later adding, "Ragnarök."

Your name will be Ragnarök Cain. Understood? The man's eyes widened slightly as he remembered Slade's words. He snorted, eyes closed.

"Ragnarök C. Kamui, that is my name."

* * *

"Ragnarök?" Robin snorted, "how grim."

Ragnarök smiled at the Boy Wonder, which sent him shivers down his spine. He frowned, letting go of the man named Ragnarök.

"Sooo what do we do with him?" Cyborg glanced at the two.

"We take him, interrogate him." The Boy Wonder simply stated.

"With all due respect, boy, I've done nothing wrong. Just because I carry a mask you, for some reason, despise with a passion, does not mean you have any right to take me in and question me." Ragnarök haughtily stated.

Robin glared at him, replying, "and expect a potential associate to a sadistic psychopathic criminal to roam free? I don't think so."

The Titans' Leader signaled Raven to hold the man down around his arms with her powers so he would not be able to get away from them. As Robin walked, the others followed, their position in a circle with Ragnarök in the center. "Wouldn't it be better if you do this more discreetly?" Ragnarök glanced down at the black rings around his arms, "you're more suspicious than I, from a bystander's perspective."

"Quiet." Robin told him.

"At least do me a slight favor." To this, Robin and the others stopped walking, looking at each other before their heads turns to their leader, who nodded, eyes filled with suspicion. "What do you want?"

"The mask," Ragnarök stated, "I want his mask back. It's the least you could do, yes? Not like it'll be dangerous or anything."

The rest of the group glanced at Ragnarök then to Robin, who later gave a nod, his head turned to Starfire who nodded back before lifting Slade's mask off the ground and placing it somewhere near Ragnarök's hand to reach. "Thank you," he smiled at the Tamaranian once his hand felt the mask.

* * *

The Titans were at the reception and got separated rooms, just like they wanted and went in the elevator, pressing the button to the highest floor. They requested to vacate the building's top floor, to which they obliged almost immediately since they introduced themselves as the Titans, heroes who took down the evil Brushogun, even though they didn't tell the reason why they would want a vacant floor, only saying that it's work-related and they don't want disturbances.

"Please, may I ask why do you want Slade's mask?" Starfire's puzzled look made Ragnarök's smile wider.

Ragnarök replied sarcastically, "because I miss him." This made the Titans look at him weirdly.

"Who would miss a psycho," Beast Boy laughed as if Ragnarök told a good joke.

"Someone who took me in and cared for me, apparently," the man shrugged, his thumb circling around the mask's eyehole. Beast Boy stopped laughing and looked at him, wide eyes like the others, "what?" They all said in unison.

"Hm? Did I say something wrong?" His head turned to the sides as he looked at the teens' expressions.

"Dude, everything sounds wrong."

"Funny. Very funny." Raven monotonously stated.

"Bro, just… Just, no."

"That is very un-Slade-like, yes?"

Robin did not answer, his eyes narrowed to curiosity and instead asked him, "when did this happen?"

"Oh, just about two years ago. He was on the roofs doing a contract, then a corpse fell down almost near me and another dead man."

"Excuse me, what?"

"Which, the corpse or the other dead man?"

"... The contract?"

"Ah, yes. Well, he is a mercenary when he's not being chased by kids like you. Besides, he's not entirely a villain, he was just hired to do the job."

Robin snorted, "right."

"So I saw the corpse and looked up to see him eyeing me, no pun intended." Ragnarök heard snickers when they got the joke about Slade having an eye. "After that, he left."

"Hah? Wait, that was it?" Beast Boy sounded disappointed.

"Actually, no. I followed him right after. It took me a while since he was leaping through the roofs and all, lost him in a while until I saw him in the abandoned district. That's when he took me in, out of my stubbornness." Ragnarök hid a smile in his eyes as he reminisced.

"And that was it?" Robin looked at him.

"Actually, no. He raped and tortured me." Gasps were heard and Ragnarök snorted, "is that what you want me to say?" The teens sighed out of relief that it was just a joke. "Do you really think he is that evil?" Ragnarök stated, his tone serious as he looked at the unflinching Boy Wonder.

"Hm, well, let's see. He terrorized our city by manipulating our friend, threatened me to kill my friends if I don't become his apprentice, and helped a demon lead our city to damnation. And you think Slade's not evil?"

Ragnarök did not answer. "... I thought so." Robin told.

Yet he cared for me.

* * *

The elevator opened. The Titans exited and sent the man down the door by the end of the hallway. The opened it using a key card and entered the room. The room consists of a bed, a balcony (though it's locked), a cabinet, a couch, a desk and chair, a door that leads to a bathroom, and a mini-kitchen. "I guess we'll keep him here," Robin sighed.

"Someone look after him daily. Cyborg, we start with you. Change shifts with Beast Boy in the afternoon. Beast Boy, you will switch with Raven in the evening. Raven, with Starfire in the morning. And Star, you'll trade places with me around the same time as Cyborg's time. Our time shifts changes, so be sure to eat and get enough sleep for the upcoming day. For tonight, I'll take over." The other Titans simply nodded as they exited the room, leaving Robin and Ragnarök by themselves.

"Ah, quite the leader, aren't you?" the man plumped down the couch, his feet crossed at the coffee table as his back leaned further to his seat.

"Tell me more about Slade." Robin grabbed a chair and sat across the man.

Ragnarök laughed, "obsessed, are you?" His fingers tapped the couch.

"Talk," Robin glared.

The two stared at each other before Ragnarök broke a smile, "well to start, he looks good under the mask."

Robin blinked, eyes wide, "y-you've seen him without his mask?" Robin couldn't hide his surprise to Ragnarök's words.

"Hm? You mean you have not?" The man's brow raised. "Strange. I'm pretty sure a lot of people knew his face. I guess it's just Wintergreen and I." His hand rubbed his chin.

"Wintergreen?"

"Slade's butler."

"He has a butler?" Ragnarök held his laugh at the teen's priceless expression.

"Wow, you really don't know, do you?" Robin's shocked expression turned to a glare.

"Don't go holding those eyes on me, kid. The least you could do is have manners on the table." Ragnarök glared back, to which Robin was taken aback. Ragnarök's arms stretched as he let out a yawn, "I'm tired. Would you kindly go away?" The man gestured a 'shoo' at the Boy Wonder.

"And give you a time to escape? No thanks." Robin's arms crossed.

The copper-haired laughed as he stood up, "I think you're mistaken, boy. I can escape this place anytime I want."

"Oh?"

"Pretty sure I know your friends' exact location in this building as well. Seeing as that pale friend of yours is an empath, you should ask her if I even speak the truth." Ragnarök yawned again as his head rests on his arms, laying down the bed.

The chair Robin was sitting on fell down the carpeted floor as stood backing away, "how did you-"

"Let's just say I know and can do everything. Omni-power as one describes it. That's why I told you I can escape anytime I want Emphasis on time."

"…"

"Ask Raven," the man smirked at the shocked Robin, who hurriedly walked out of the door. The man laughed, his mind drifting away to sleep.

* * *

"Raven. Raven!" Robin's fist banged the door to Raven's room, which was abruptly opened.

"What?" Raven's voice raised, annoyed by the sudden interruption of her daily meditation.

"Omni-powers. What do you know about it?"

"Huh?" Raven raised a brow. "Well," Raven paused before sighing, "it is what it is: the user can use all types of abilities known and unknown to existence." Robin's eyes narrowed. "Power Legion, Complete Arsenal, the Power of Everything and Anything. Those are just the other names for that ability. The user can use different types of powers at the same time and even mix them together, making them difficult to take them down, if anyone can actually take them down since all types of countermeasures are already planned in their head. Why are you asking this?"

Robin went quiet for a few moments before answering, "get some rest." Raven stood still before nodding, closing the door as she saw Robin walk away for a moment. Raven didn't ask again. She knows Robin will tell her eventually. All she have to be is patient.

* * *

Robin swiped the card and opened the door to enter Ragnarök's room. He saw the man sleeping and didn't bother to wake him up. It has been a long night. He was sure it was eleven by now. He tiptoed his way to the couch to get some sleep. If the man is sleeping, he might as well do so to wake up earlier than him.

* * *

Five in the morning, Robin woke up. He sat up the couch and yawned before looking behind him to where the bed is located. Ragnarök was gone. Robin stood up and looked around, seeing the window to the balcony opened. He ran to the balcony and saw Ragnarök sitting on a chair as he enjoys his coffee whilst drawing on a paper on a glass-top round coffee table.

"What are you doing?"

Ragnarök looked up at the now-awakened bird boy, "uhhh, sketching?"

The teen leader stared at the sketch which contains a concept art of two similar daggers with different pattern of the same colors. His eyes were curious as to what use is the concept for but brushed it off as he had an epiphany. He looked at Ragnarök, "you didn't leave."

"Well, I've no reason to go anywhere anyway," Ragnarök took a sip of his coffee.

"Not even to look for Slade?"

"He has no hold against me as much as I to him. He only took care of me, that's it. Taught me and all that."

"What did he teach you," Robin leaned by the muntin, arms crossed.

"English. A bit of German. Self-taught, though. He also taught me about technology and… private stuff." Ragnarök took another sip as he hides his tinted cheeks.

"English wasn't your first language?"

"No, Japanese is."

"You don't look like one."

"Because I'm not born here." I was created here, Ragnarök thought to himself.

"He never taught you how to fight?"

"Why should he? He never asked me to be his apprentice even once. He gave me free will. If anything, the only thing he'd ask of me is to sing for him."

For the first time, Robin laughed, "he asked you to sing for him?"

"Eh," the copper-haired shrugged, "something about missing someone singing. He held a sad smile while reminiscing about 'em."

To this, Robin snorted, "what's there to reminisce?"

Ragnarök stared at Robin before he answers, "his son."

Robin's expression dropped along with his posture to a still stand, mouth slightly gaping. Just when he was about to say something, a knock on the door interrupted. Cyborg entered the room. "Robin?"

"Over here," the black-haired teen waved his hand for the half-robot to see. Cyborg walked near the balcony and saw the copper-haired sipping his coffee. "He's up early," Cyborg pointed at the man.

"I'm used to waking up really early. Like one in the morning, or three. My sleep time varies because of Slade." He shrugged as he lift up his cup and mumbled, "ah, out of coffee." He stood up and walked towards the two teens, "excuse me." The two moved subconsciously and let the man pass to get his second drink.

"What about Slade and your early awakenings?" Cyborg asked.

"Hm?" Ragnarök raised a brow as he sat down on his seat, sipping coffee before resuming to his sketch. "Oh, right. He would often wake me up and tell me he's going out on a contract, which annoys me greatly. And I theorize he likes waking me up just for laughs and spite. So he and I got over it after getting used to the random throw-out-of-bed situations." Cyborg snickers.

"I better take a bath and get some proper sleep. Cyborg, you're up. You know what to do." Their leader pat Cyborg's shoulder, to which the half-robot nodded, leaving the room with a long yawn.

* * *

Two hours passed and Cyborg and Ragnarök didn't speak the entire time. Cyborg let Ragnarök do what he wants in the room and eyed him curiously. He wondered what it is about the man. He didn't seem like a dangerous man at all just because he is associated with Slade. He watches the man sit on the couch and continued drawing after growing tired of the sun. His curious eyes left the man and went to what he is working on.

"You like drawing that much?" Cyborg asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Something like that."

"Hey man, where'd you get the scars on your face?" Cyborg's fingers pointed at the scars on the man's lips. "Not that you have to answer that or anything."

"It was from an experiment."

"Um, a what?" Cyborg blinked countless of times.

"I wasn't born. I was created."

"Created?"

"Yes. As an experiment for cloning humans under the Kamui Laboratory Research Facility directed by Kunitoshi Kamui." The copper-haired explained, his amber and ice-blue eyes still fixed at his drawing.

Cyborg went quiet for a while as his red machine eye glowed, searching for articles that is tagged under Kamui Lab's. He sees various articles through different medias discussing the same thing, Subject R976. Cyborg has read them all as his red eye shifts from the sides memorizing the data. After doing so, he let out a small gasp, finally returning to reality to see the man before him flip the paper and started drawing another concept.

"You were the successful artificial human!" Cyborg's mouth gaped.

Ragnarök smiled and snapped his fingers, "bingo! Well done, robot. I applaud for your immediate investigation." He clapped his hands as he was leaning back in his seat, looking at the gaping half-machine.

"But, but why are you with… with Slade?"

"Were with Slade. I was kidnapped two years ago back to Hokkaido in an underground hideout for further experiments."

"Kidnapped?! How could you say that so casually?! Didn't you ask for help?!"

"Well, in the process of doing so, they stuck their chodes in my mouth. And I'm like, 'honestly, what the hell' and all that stuff." The artificial human shrugged as his hand gestured strokes down to his sketched paper.

"I…," Cyborg paused as he tried to find words to the sudden revelation, "I'm so sorry…"

Ragnarök looked up at the sad expression of the half-machine, his words held to a pause before muttering as he looked back down to resume his sketching, "Not your fault, kid."

* * *

Cyborg and Ragnarök engaged in small conversations involving the pseudo hume's experiences in his two-year involvement with the Labs that created him. About being created through various DNAs and stem cells, daily dosage of syringes that contains chemicals to improve blood flow, amputations in which he got his scars and stitched marks from, and others. With this to talk about, it took them long enough to realize that it was already twelve in the afternoon, the end of Cyborg's shift. He said his goodbye before halt to further walk to the door and asked if Ragnarök needed anything. The pseudo smirked, standing up and walking to the nightstand to rip a paper of a notepad and wrote something in it, giving it to the half-robot. Cyborg read the contents of the note and looked at the copper-haired with a smile and nodded, finally exiting the room.

And a few seconds later entered the green shapeshifter, Beast Boy.

* * *

Ragnarök was done sketching random items and was starting to get bored, so he roamed around the room checking every details as he did so before plumping down the couch faced away a front the bed. And in that process of roaming around, at the corner of his eye, he noticed the green-skinned teen was shaking in his seat, obviously nervous. He chuckled under his breath.

"S-So, um, hi." Beast Boy uncomfortably shifted in his seat whilst twiddling his thumbs as his eyes looked around before staring to the amber and ice-blues. The shifter jolted when he heard the man laughed whilst he sprawled in his seat, "no need to be nervous. You're a 'hero,' are you not? Gain courage and so on and so forth, whatever you heroes gather at the back of your non-helping words of encouragement." He stated as his hands gestured away. He mumbled in the process, "why is there no TV here?"

The last statement made the shifter laugh, successfully making him calm down, "there's none in my room too."

"Huh," the heterochromiac scoffed, "and here I thought it's because red little bird prohibited TV for his prisoner." He sighed, "oh, how I miss TV for the sake of video games…"

His eyes noticed the the green orbs beamed, "you like video games?"

"I'm a PC/console kinda guy."

"Dude, I'm hands down for consoles and arcades!"

"Arcades, huh? I've only been to a GeSen once but I found it fun."

"Whaaat? Just once?!" Beast Boy stood up his seat, a shocked expression on his face before it was replaced by a determined one, "you are so lacking arcade experience. Hell, you're missing out in the arcade area!"

Beast Boy talked about various new types of arcade machines that he recommends along with some classic ones and ended up talking about each other's video game preferences and other hobbies. Ragnarök answered with survival horror or RPG horror. Just pretty much RPG in general because of the satisfying feeling of leveling up and earning achievements in the process. Other genres include adventure, cyberpunk, fantasy, and sci-fi. Beast Boy nodded in agreement with RPG and sci-fi as his favorite game is of the same genre. Next, they talked about other hobbies like Beast Boy's vegan diet and his obsession with tofu along with rock music. For the most part, Ragnarök listened and agreed to his taste in music, recommending bands as he talked passionately about them.

The conversation was interrupted when there was a knock on the door. Beast Boy stood up and exited the room for a while. It seems as if he was chatting with someone, his tone all happy as he converse further before entering the room once more. This, time with bags on his arms, setting it down to the coffee table by their seats.

"Here's your stuff," Beast Boy heaved and placed it on the table with a sigh. "That's quite a load of clothes for you. Cy sent them for you."

"Ah, tell my thanks to the half-robot, would you? In the meantime, I shall bathe. I haven't done so this morning seeing as I've no clothes to wear, eh?" The older stood up the couch and went to the bathroom after carrying the bags to the bed. "Let's talk again sometime. You're cool."

Beast Boy smiled at the comment and nodded, leaving the room.

* * *

 **A/N:** _Christ._ That amount of words in a chapter, though. I've probably never done that much in a chapter before. /laughs


	7. The Teen and the Empath

**CHAPTER VII**

Raven rested half of the day as she ate her lunch whilst reading a book she soon finished. She closed it after reading it and put it on the coffee table, later getting off the couch after deciding to go out for fresh air. There outside her room, she saw Beast Boy come out the door at the end of the hallway, to Ragnarök's room. Beast Boy was talking to Cyborg for a while before they noticed Raven walked to them. "Oh, hey Raven. What's up?" Asked Cyborg. "Hi Rae," Beast Boy smiled at the empath.

"What are you two doing, stalling outside the door," Raven eyed the two best friends, "did something happen?"

"Huh? Oh no, nothing like that. I was just about finished with my shift with Ragna over there, so I took a breather." The green teen's thumb pointed the door to Ragnarök's room with a shrug.

"Then I guess it's my turn," Raven mumbled as she wraps her hand around the doorknob and twisted it open as she walked into the room. In the process, she ignored Beast Boy who called out to her just when she shuts the door to his face.

Raven wasn't that okay with sacrificing time for her meditation for babysitting on a guy who has associations with the man they don't want to meet. But if Robin asked, then she guessed she just have to. He did her a favor in the End, so why not return it, right? Just after she turned around, the man in question came out of the bathroom in just a towel around his hips, beads of water sliding down his body while the others dripped down the floor. Raven's body slammed back to the door entrance in surprise as her eyes pops to the half-naked man, catching his attention.

"Oh, I didn't noticed you come in," Ragnarök blinked as he switched the lights to the bathroom and closed it. He walked to the bed as he ignored Raven and put some clothes on the bed, separating the shirts from the pants along with some socks, boxers, and undershirts.

Raven just stood there back still against the door as she watch him pick clothes to wear. She was slightly blushing and sweating, dumbfounded at how calm the man was in another's presence. She blinked thinking back to what the man had said. Immediately, she went, "liar."

Ragnarök looked up at Raven who was still by the door. He smirked and looked down, finally choosing his clothes. "Where is that shapeshifter?" He asked as he put on some boxers then some black slacks, removing the towel around his hips. "Done with his shift, no pun intended," calmly answered Raven. "Funny," the copper-haired wore on a black shirt before speaking, "and what does an empath like you want with a man raised by the man that haunts you all?" Raven's eyes slightly widened as she adjusted herself off the door and to the couch, "what gave you away? My empathy."

The amber and ice-blues met the violet orbs, smirking as he adjusts his white belt around his pants. "So you're the one Robin speaks of," mumbled Raven as she reminisced her conversation with Robin last night. "Pretty much," Ragnarök shrugged. "But I can't feel anything from you," the violet-haired's eyes narrowed puzzled.

"I am but an artificial life after all."

"Is that so?"

"You don't sound surprised."

"I have suspicions."

"I see."

The silence faded in the room.

Raven sat down the one-seater couch while Ragnarök sprawled on the wider seat. How surprising, considering the fact that Raven felt no danger from the man. In fact, she felt calm as she does not have to feel anything from him. "What made you stay?" Asked the empath. "I've nowhere to go." "Lies," Raven countered. Ragnarök was silenced. "Why, pray tell, would I lie?" Smiled the scarred lips of the copper-haired. "With those powers of yours, surely you can do anything." "Not entirely, apparently," mumbled he.

Now this caught Raven's attention the most. "Oh?" She mouthed, a brow raised. "Some part within me tells otherwise. It plans to limit my abilities." His hand put itself on the man's chest. "Omni-power is never restricted." "Yet I feel it to be boring should I battle with all I have in my arsenal." Raven scoffed to his words, "so you got yourself caught on purpose." Ragnarök did not say a word. "So I separated myself," he later mouthed. Raven was surprised, "what?" "I gave away portions of my powers to three persons of my choosing. They shall be the proof of my limits." Raven, speechless, listened further. "All I have now is perfect copy and weapon summoning." "When," Raven spoke, "since when have you done this?"

"Right after arriving in Tokyo. Right after arriving in the still-abandoned district. Right after I picked up the mask. Right after being captured. Right after sketching the concepts." Ragnarök eyed the mask in the middle of the coffee table before taking it into his hands and his thumb circling around the eyehole. "Concepts?" "The concepts." "Why?"

His thumb had stopped as he looked at Raven straight in the eye.

"It's boring if you have everything," a smirk played on his lips. That same smirk that Raven felt when she felt Slade in the End doing the same. She couldn't help but gulp.

"Why aren't you escaping?"

"The same answer I told the red bird: I've nowhere to go."

"Why are you not trying to find a place?"

"Ah, an interesting question. Probably because it'll be all the same," Ragnarok shrugged while shaking his head.

"The same? What will?"

 _Slade._

"Personal reasons." He simply smiled.

"..." Raven looked at Ragnarok. Her eyes filled with uncertainty, she averted them towards the balcony. "To be free," she answered.

"Pardon?"

Raven shook her head, "Nothing."

* * *

Minutes of silence engulfed the room. However, the pseudo-hume and the empath seems to pay no mind, seeing as they both enjoy peace and quiet. Few questions were thrown both ways as the both of them answered with short replies. Why they did so, they didn't know. Raven wanted to talk about his powers more but she was patient. Patient enough to hear the door open. "Am I interrupting?" Robin's head popped inside the room. "Ah, the red little bird," Ragnarok's face lifted to look at the Boy Wonder, "came to visit me?" "If anything, I'd kill myself before doing so." "Ah, how cruel," Ragnarok placed a hand on his chest. Robin ignored Ragnarok as he called for the girl, "Raven, with me," Robin gestured. Raven gave Ragnarok one last look before exiting the room with Robin.

"You wanted something?" Raven asked after the door closed and they were outside.

"I asked the others about what they think of that guy. Apparently, he's been telling different stories here and there, though Beast Boy and Cyborg didn't elaborate on the stories. Did he tell you anything?"

Raven sighed, shaking her head, "not much." Robin's brow raised, "are you _sure?"_ Raven stared before nodding. Robin's eyes narrowed before it went back to normal, nodding back at Raven. "Be sure to report if you do."

"Why are you so suspicious of him?" Raven knew what Robin's answer will be. And if anything, it was stupid of her to ask the answer what she already know. Yet it bothers her. She really sense no danger from the man in question. He has no intention of finding Slade either, that, Ragnarök has proven countless of times by staying inside a room he can easily get out of. What is it that stopping Raven from telling Robin about Ragnarök's powers being given to other people? She was confused.

Raven went back inside the room after discussing with Robin, only to find Ragnarök writing on a notepad. "What are you doing?" She asked as she approached the man who was sitting on the edge of the bed. "Writing," Ragnarök replied as he stopped writing and folded the paper into a paper airplane. He stood up and slid the door to the balcony open and threw the plane into the air, watching it fly away into the dark sky. "What was that for?" Raven further asked.

Ragnarök's head turned towards Raven as he responds, "I can't have fun?"

"You're just suspicious."

"I'm sorry," Ragnarök blinked as Raven looked puzzled at the man's apology.

And again, the silence followed.

* * *

It was eight in the evening as the two sat in silence still. Raven could've sworn as she was meditating, her body facing the balcony, that she heard a heavy creak from behind her. So her head, body tilting to the side, turned around to see the copper-haired had plumped onto the bed sleeping. Raven snorted before returning to her meditation.

* * *

9:12 PM

Raven could not concentrate.

Because it's either Ragnarök wakes up every few minutes later and she can feel his eyes on her then later falling asleep or his loud shifting on his bed along with the creaks the bed was making every now and then.

And there it is again! Another creak!

Raven could've sworn she's running out of patience with that bed. She's becoming more and more annoyed with the sound echoing the room. Then, all of the sudden, her eyes glowed white to another creak the echoed the room. It wasn't just any other creak, it that creak where it lasted for seconds before dying down and being followed by very short duration if creaks. She swears the girl from the Ring was making similar sounds next to her ear.

Her hovering form stood up and walked towards the bed as her hands are encircled in black aura, ready to flip the bed and break it to pieces until she heard Ragnarök murmuring in his sleep. He white glowing eyes returned to her violet orbs as she observed the man on the bed before her, trying to figure out what he was talking about in his sleep.

'No more, Wintergreen… I'm full…' Murmured Ragnarök as he shifts in his sleep again.

 _Wintergreen? He eats plants? So he's vegan? Is that it?_ Raven's emotions argued inside her head as she eyed the sleeping man weirdly.

'... Slade,' he mumbled further, making Raven's eyes widen, 'have a safe trip…' Raven blinked, _was that Japanese?_

That was the moment Raven's anger subsided. Just mentioning the name Slade made her body shake in fear but the way Ragnarök had said it with such… kindness is _unusual._ She began to become curious of what Ragnarök was dreaming about that she raised her open palm to reach out for Ragnarök's face that was a few distance from her hand. The hand went closer and closer towards Ragnarök's forehead, about to make contact. That is, until it was grabbed by a larger hand, Raven flinched.

"What are you doing," the copper-haired stated, his eyes remained closed. After asking, his eyes opened, visible to Raven's perspective that his eyes were glowing as if neon. The empath and the pseudo-human made eye contact, something that, Raven epiphanized, they have properly done for the first time. "Do you really want to know that badly?" Ragna's brows narrowed as he showed a worried look in his eyes.

Raven did not answer.

Their stares never seem to avert each other until Ragna's hand released the half-demon's wrist. Raven sighed as she rubbed her tightly gripped wrist, her eyes never leaving his still. "Then I shall demonstrate," Ragna's hand reached for Raven's as he pulled her against him, foreheads touching. Suddenly, Raven felt a flow of sounds reaching into her. Voices of a child, an old man, various adults and Slade.

 _Come._

 _My name is Wilson. Your name, if I may?_

 _You don't want to say your name? You don't have a name?_

 _From hereon, your name will be Ragnarök. Ragnarök… Cain! Your name will be Ragnarök Cain. Understood?_

' _Ragnarök Cain!'_

 _Pfft, good boy._

 _Who are you?_

 _My name is… Wintergreen, a friend and butler of Master Slade._

 _I should teach you English._

 _Yes?_

 _You should learn other languages, actually._ _Can't have you just speaking in one language forever. I'm kinda getting tired of speaking in Japanese as well._ _I miss talking in English._ _Just when I gave Wintergreen his break…_

 _You… you, keep changimg languages… I don't understand!_

 _I'm heading out. You want to go with me?_

 _Huh?_

 _You. Go. With me._

 _They fancy you._

" _Fancy?"_

 _Like. Admire. Interested in. And any other words synonymous to that._

 _Oh, th-they 'fancy' me?_

 _No need to be embarrassed. I fancy you too._

Just when Raven thought it was over after a few seconds, there came another conversation.

 _Wait, you're going away?_

 _Only for a contract._

 _Right. How long will you be away?_

 _Not sure. It's up north, however. To Russia._

 _Wait, what? It's in Russia?_

 _I told you, I'm not sure when or if I'll even return. That's why I had Wintergreen to come here and keep you company._

 _... Alright._

 _Okay._

 _Take care!_

And there flashed an image of a man clad in armor as the sunlight brightly shone on the man's pure white hair.

The voice called out, _Slade._

Raven gasped as she backed away from Ragnarök's grasp, panting. It took her a moment to catch her breath before asking, "Slade? _That_ was _Slade?"_ "And now you know," the pseudo-hume sighed, shifting in his position on the bed as he sat up scratching his head. "See? I told you, he's not that much of a bad guy as you guys depict him to be. He was kind to me. The only kindness I'll ever receive," He looked down sadly. Raven was lost for words. That couldn't possibly be Slade. The man was manipulative and ruthless, a sadist even. There's no way she would easily believe that. But his voice was exactly the same as the real deal. And it confuses her greatly. The same man that gave them agony is very much humane with Ragnarök, and why is that? Did Slade see something in him that is other than a potential candidate for an apprentice? Is that it? Or is it…

"Did he long for a family?" Raven spoke out. That is beyond impossible. That would be passed as a joke to tell the Titans for all she cared about but hearing the sincerity and worry in Slade's voice is something that bothers her. It's so… _pitiful._

Ragnarök laughed at Raven's question and shook his head, "who am I to know? I'm not a replacement." This full-on caught Raven's attention.

"What?" Raven faced the older teen, "A replacement? From what? From _who?"_

"His family, of course," he snorted as if his previous statement was so obvious.

Raven remained quiet. She was processing all that has happened to her so far and she definitely didn't want to ask him some more to cause further confusion. So she sighed in defeat, walking out of the room and went to her own. Ragnarök stared, stunned. "How rude," he mumbled.

" **Rude indeed."**

Ragnarök's eyes immediately widened as he stood up, his head turned around to search for the voice that had sufficed. He walked all over the place until he went out the balcony to see a figure sitting on the chair. The copper-haired's tense shoulders slumped as he slowly began to recognize who it was. "You…" he whispered.

" **Me."** The silhouette chuckled as his legs crossed on the coffee table and his back leaning on the chair.

"No," Ragnarök shook his head, "you don't exist. You're just a figment of my imagination." He stepped back holding his head. "Go. Never return. Get out and never exist again."

" **Now, you're just as rude as the dark little bird, kid. Where are your manners, eh."** The silhouette stood up as he approached the artificial hume, slowly revealing himself in to the room's light. And it was none other than _him._

"Please," the teen pleaded, "this isn't you." The one in front of him smiled. "This isn't you, _Slade."_

The figure of Slade smirked. **"How rude. And here I am, in body and flesh. What more do I prove to you that I am him?"** Ragnarök swallowed the lump in his throat as he began to continue to deny Slade's existence.

"I **killed** you," trembled the tearing boy.

* * *

 _You have to calm yourself down, Ragna! Don't let it win over you, you're better than this!_

 _I can't! It's too late!_

 _Then I sacrifice._

 _No! No, Slade, please!_

* * *

"I killed… you…" the teen mumbled again as he collapsed on the concrete floor, quietly sobbing in his own arms.

 **"Poor child."** Slade kneeled down as he rubbed the boy's back after he puts his arms around the teen into an embrace. **"No matter. I am here with you always."** He spoke as his figure began to tear away into thin air, his chuckle disappearing into an echo of the night.

 ** _Always._**

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay. So that took a dark turn. More like, it escalated quickly. But yeah, whatever. So my apologies for not updating the last week. Because that was my plan: to upload a new chapter every week but it got cut off because last week was like a week of outing and I didn't have time to upload. /Laughs

But I do hope you enjoy this chapter as an apology. :)

Do look forward to the next chapter because stuff happens. Though I'm still working on it.


	8. The Teen, the Figure, and the Traveller

**CHAPTER VIII**

 **I am here with you always.**

 _ **Always.**_

Raven took a sharp intake of breath as her her body shifted to the door. _What was that?_ She thought as she started walking back to Ragnarök's room. Arriving, she opened the door immediately, "hey!" She blinked, eyes wide open as she saw Ragnarök collapsed on the floor to the balcony, crying. She closed the door and ran towards the teen. Kneeling, she asked him, "hey, are you okay?" Her eyes showed worry as the man continued to sob before replying, "go away."

She shook her head, "No. Tell me what happened."

"You… you don't understand," Ragnarök sniffed as he continuously wiped his tears away before properly facing her, "he was with us all this time."

" _He?_ Who is _he?"_

"Please… please… I killed him. He should be dead. But he's alive. He was here, he was here and… he has always been with me… all this time…" He continued to sob and sniff as he clenched onto Raven's shoulders.

 _So the one I heard earlier was…_

 _ **Always.**_

" _Slade?"_

Ragnarök nodded quietly with a sniff.

"You… you _killed Slade?"_

"Yes! No! I-I don't know!"

"Oh, my God," Raven mouthed before covering her mouth in shock. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Ragnarök began shaking his head, "I don't know."

"This isn't a matter of denying it! What happened between you and Slade?" Raven's voice became frantic as she shook Ragnarök's shoulders, who was still shaking his head. "Nothing, nothing, I don't remember. I don't remember." "Ragnarök!" She called as she tries to snap him back to reality.

 **Stop.**

* * *

The concept of space and time was halted along with the two teens in the room as a line drew in the air. The line opened as the figure walked in, no time on observing their surroundings as s/he immediately walked towards Raven and Ragnarök. Her/his hands were placed at the sides of the copper-haired's head as s/he spoke the words, " **Forget this ever happened. You are not to know this. What you have learned was a mistake. Never remember this again, and go to sleep."** And Ragnarök did as his eyes slowly closed and his body relaxed. The figure later did the same with Raven and sent her back to where she originally was, her room. S/he sighed as her/his body relaxed from the tension, creating another portal to get out of the universe. That is, until s/he was interrupted.

" **You're no fun,"** He stated as he walked out of the shadows to greet the extradimensional traveller. " **When will you learn not to spoil the fun?"**

" **And when will** _ **you**_ **learn when to stop messing with the timeline, Slade? Or was it Ragnarök? Or whoever you truly are."** S/he teased the figure who held a frown.

" **Get out of my universe, intruder."** The traveller remained quiet before doing what the figure had stated. The figure relaxed a bit before murmuring, " **we'll see how this unfolds now, won't we? Dear self."**

* * *

"How rude." Ragnarök mumbled as he continued to stare at the closed door with a stunned expression. He sighed, looking away from the door and to the alarm clock on the side of the bed. It was 10:57 PM. His brows furrowed. Did time really fly that fast just now? He could've sworn it ways only just 10 yet forty minutes had already passed? Well, not that he minded or anything. He stood up and headed to the bathroom to take a leak, later going back to bed and set up a proper rest.

* * *

Elsewhere, Raven, too, wondered how time had flew by quickly. Or not really? Maybe it was one of Beast Boy's pranks again? He did that once or twice when he's feeling sly after all. So she decided to head out her room and walked a few steps to Beast Boy's front door and knocked. The door opened to see Beast Boy and immediately held her alarm clock up to the face of the green-skinned. "Quit fooling around, Beast Boy. This is the third time you changed my clock's time."

"Huh? What do you mean? I didn't do anything!" Beast Boy looked at Raven confusingly. "Besides, Cyborg's with me playing Ratchet: Gladiator! Hey, Cy! Come here for a sec!" Beast Boy opened the door wider to prove that Cyborg really was there. And he was. "What's up, BB? Oh, hey, Rae. You want something from BB?" Cyborg's brow lifted teasingly at her but the shapeshifter interrupted, "Raven thinks I pulled a prank on her by changing her clock's time." Cyborg looked at Raven, "nah, man. That's impossible with us playing without bathroom breaks." Raven remained quiet before nodding, "alright, fine. I'll let you off this time."

"You want help in fixing the time, Rae?" Cyborg moved forward with his arm up for the clock. Raven gave him a nod and handed him the clock, "sure." Cyborg lightly touched the clock as his robotic arm opened to check the time. Cyborg blinked, followed by a few more with some rubbing of eyes as he eyed his arm, then the clock, and vice versa. "Uh, Rae?"

"What?"

"N-Nothing's wrong with the time."

" _What?"_ Raven repeated before coming close towards Cyborg's machined arm, "are you sure?" He was. And the time just passed by to be 11:10 PM. Raven's brows narrowed before slowly reaching for her clock and going back to her room puzzled. Maybe it was just her imagination? She decided to go to Ragnarök's room, never saying a word until the end of her shift.

* * *

Hours later, the time became 1:06 AM, Starfire's shift. She knocked on the door and greeted Ragnarök properly. Ragnarök, for once, seemed intrigued and gave the alien a smile, returning the greeting. He enjoyed Starfire's company because, much like Beast Boy, they were not focused on spilling out information about his fake life and be all suspicious about him. He gave them enough information.

They were having such a friendly conversation when Starfire talked about her planet and their planet's cultures and traditions, and started comparing them to the Earth's own. Ragnarök smiled to that. He asked if they, too, believe in deities to which Starfire shrugged. Something about believing in themselves to have descended under them but are not sure if they are to be considered gods. It is, after all, nothing but a pedigree of Tamaranian evolution.

"Please, may I ask why you have asked a sudden question about gods?" Starfire's head tilted as she looked at him smiling. He shook his head, "Nothing. Probably because on Earth, gods signifies hope. And in hope, they gain strength." Starfire's hands clasped together, eyes shining, "oh, that is most wonderful! Gods must be great allies when in times of need!" Ragnarök laughed, "they can also be formidable enemies." "Huh? I do not understand," she shook her head, "gods are also enemies?"

"Sometimes."

"Please, why is that?"

"There are gods that reigns over death, war, time, and others. Those gods are considered formidable because they control an individual's fate. Be it shorten their lifespan or kill them off entirely, even erasing their existence along with their ancestral line off the universe."

"H-How awful!" Starfire frowned as her shoulders slumped down in uncertainty to her perception of gods.

"That's why there are people who do not believe in gods. Even to a point where they deny of any gods' existence. Because all they do to us humans is disappoint and be unfair to their own creations. Not only that but they abandoned us, thus the roaming of evil unto the earth's surface."

Starfire remained silent before asking the teen, "who's side do you believe?" He stared at her and replied, "neither."

"Neither?"

"No," his head shook sideways. "I believe that no matter what happens, it falls into our own responsibility. Don't rely on someone else to your work for you. Gods or not, that, you should never forget." His hand reached and patted her head, "you are your own ally, as well as your own god. Only you can decide that." He smiled as he saw Starfire's face beamed and giggled.

For a second, his smile faded. "Slade taught me that…"

This made Starfire blankly stared at Ragnarök before tossing out a question, "do you miss him?"

He blinked, then laughed, and calmed down later on.

He shook his head, "Miss? No."

Starfire stared again.

"But I did miss the chance to **kill** him."

Ragnarök held a dark smile as he stated his words that sent shivers down the alien's spine. She backed away a few steps as her hand clenched her chest, the look of worry spread across her face.

 **Stop, stop, stop!**

" **What the hell are you doing?!"** S/he reappeared again as the space and time halted. " **I told you to stop doing that! How many times has it been now?!"**

The figure gritted his teeth, " **I want him to remember! Do you know how many times my plans are being foiled because of you?! When it's the most logical plan out of all the things we've thought over, to boot! And yet here you are! Interrupting me!** _ **Again!"**_

" **It's not right!"**

" **Yet it's his right to know!"**

The two enigma fell silent, standing in the middle of the room. The traveller shook her/his head as s/he sighed. " **He will not remember anything. End of discussion."** The figure remained quiet later on as he watched the traveller reset the events that occurred.

* * *

"Do you miss him?"

He blinked, then laughed, and calmed down later on.

He shook his head, "Miss? No."

Starfire stared again.

"It's more than that. Much more than you think." The copper-haired smiled sadly at the redhead. "I don't understand, why do you miss him? He's an evil man!" To this, Ragnarök shook his head and replied, "everyone has an evil in them. Even you." Starfire gasped and pointed to herself, "even me?!" He nodded.

* * *

Ragnarök and Starfire later talked about a different subject as Starfire felt Ragnarök to be uncomfortable to talk about his relation with Slade. The mood began to lighten once more as Starfire continued with her talking about Jump City and how the Teen Titans met and formed. Later discussing about how they live in a small island, in a building in shape of a 'T,' the Titans Tower. Ragnarök relaxed more and more as Starfire continued on her stories of their heroic acts until she herself began to yawn here and there, and finally went to sleep.

The teen laughed, carrying Starfire to the bed and putting a blanket over her body, then went and sat on the chair on the balcony, staring at the starry night sky above him. He wondered what time it was, probably morning, as the starful of sky didn't last long when they slowly faded out. He began to think over things he has avoided up to now and planned over some things. And just then, he behan to wonder as to why, somehow, his memory is somewhat messy.

He felt like he had uncovered something but he doesn't know what exactly it is. He thought over things repeatedly until his conclusions revealed nothing. He sighed frustratingly as he leaned back his seat, closing his eyes as he relaxes.

' _Remember.'_

 _Remember what, exactly?_ He thought as he scratched his head, then leaned his head on his arm that rests on the arm chair, thinking deeply before he himself was drifting to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** Okay. Second chapter of the week. Just to make up for the no-update last week. Btw, has anyone read "Stalker" by Smilechild? Christ, that is amazing. I'm in tears with the latest chapter.

Smilechild's "Stalker" is what inspired me to make this story. Or at least contributed in the creation of this story. Others are Wynja and fir some reason, GTA V's Trevor Phillips. Don't ask, just nod and accept it. /laughs

I like how it's getting lengthy chapter by chapter. Well, not really but yeah, whatever.

I hope you enjoyed the story so far! :)


	9. The Teen turned Pet? Mercenary returns!

**CHAPTER IX**

 _Immediately, after searching the Lab's main computer, his eyes widened along with his mouth gaping._

' _This is it._

 _What I have ever wanted was here.'_

 _His heart began to beat faster, the beating echoing out to his ears and his head._

' _This is it,' he thought._

 _It wasn't long until tears began to fill his eyes._

 _Not in despair,_

 _But in hope._

Ragnarök's eyes shot open as he lightly gasped. He looked around his surroundings panting, eyes squinting as the first rays of the sun hits his eyes, making him cover his face in his raised hand's shadow as he walked back in the room. The supposed sleeping redhead was nowhere to be found and instead, was greeted by a noisy group of teens.

"Yo, man!"

"Dude, you're awake!"

"... Good morning."

"Hello and a fine morning, friend!"

Ragnarök tiredly stared at the group before looking at Robin, who nodded away as a greeting. "May I ask why you all are here?" The pseudo-human raised a brow. Immediately, the noisy group went silent as their heads turned to their leader, whose arms are crossed while leaning on the kitchenette counter. Robin breathed in and out before announcing to Ragnarök, "we're letting you go." Beast Boy, Cyborg, and Starfire cheered while Raven only sighed and sip her coffee.

"But," Robin interrupted the cheers, "we will have you wear GPS with an attached microphone to know if you truly don't have anything to do with Slade other than him being your 'savior,'" Robin narrowed his eyes into a glare as he looked at the copper-haired. Following his words were boos from the shifter, half-robot, and the alien. "C'mon, Rob," Beast Boy interrupted, "he's a cool guy. It doesn't matter if he knows Slade, Raggs is a fun guy! _He loves video games!"_ Ragnarök amusingly raised a brow at his new-found nickname. "Yeah, man. He hasn't done anything suspicious the entire day yesterday! It should be okay not to have him do that, right?" Cyborg followed as he took a step forward next to Ragna.

"Oh, please, Robin! Friend Ragna has even told me of the wonders of gods and how their are perceived by people! And I wish to learn more about this so-called 'religion' we spoke of." Starfire gave her most adorable puppy eyes to her boyfriend as she grabbed his hands intertwining his with her own fingers. Robin's looked hesitant as his eyes met her greens. He knew he couldn't resist but it had to be done. "Sorry, Star," Robin placed his hands on Starfire's with a guilty smile, "not this one."

"Noooo," the two best of friends, Beast Boy and Cyborg cried in unison and turned to face the one that didn't get to vote and called out, "Raaaveeen!" Raven, sipping her coffee, glanced at the two and went back to reading, shrugging to their request. Beast Boy's ears drooped along with Cyborg in tears, which was later cut by Ragna informing Robin, "it's okay. I'll do it."

" _What?"_ The two friends went.

Ragna shrugged, "I have no further ties with the man you seek. So doing what he requested is not that bad of a deal now, is it?" He looked at the Boy Wonder, who nodded in agreement, "then here you go," Robin tossed an object towards Ragnarök's direction and was caught by the copper-haired. He inspected the object for a few seconds and raised a brow towards Robin as he held up the object. "Wear it," Robin insisted.

It was a dog tag. On the thin metal encrypted his name 'Ragnarök Kamui,' while on the other was his serial number 'R976.' Ragnarök snorted, "so you gave me a background check."

"Just to see if what you told the others was the truth or not." Robin shrugged, then continued with a smirk, "how befitting, don't you think?" Ragnarök chuckled deeply, " _very,"_ he sarcastically replied, which made Robin frowned.

"When will he be released?" Raven spoked, finally.

"Right after Cyborg will update our communicators to receive reports on his routines. Since he won't be holding any communicator, it could take half a day, seeing as how it requires to map down his location anywhere he goes via satellite signals. Cyborg, if possible, I want it done immediately."

"On it," the half-robot sighed as his red eye glowed along with his chest opening to search for signals for access.

"Sooo what now?" Beast Boy looked at everyone, twiddling his thumbs. "For now, we'll take a break. A _real_ one this time." Robin stretched his arms as he exited the room with Starfire following, hovering behind him. "I'll try to go to the roofs to access more connection for a faster installation. See y'all later." Cyborg walked off, sounds of beeps can be heard echoing the halls until it fades.

"Sooo _now_ what?" Beast Boy asked again. "I'm going," Raven wore her hood up and opened a black portal on the ground, teleporting away from the room. "Whaaaaat," Beast Boy whined, "I guess we have no choice but to play video games, huh, Raggs?" His head turned to the scarred face of the teen. "Sorry, kid," Ragnarök went, "if possible, I'd like to be alone. Plus, I have to shower and all." Ragnarök saw Beast Boy's ears drop again as he walked away all depressed, he chuckled and apologized to the green teen again. He closed the door and grabbed a set of fresh clothing from the closet along with some towels and went to the bathroom for a quick shower. A second later and his head popped out the bathroom and checked for the time. 7:30 AM, it reads. _Huh, guess I have time to kill,_ he thought and closed the door to continue.

* * *

Robin was on the second floor where the hotel is serving food. With Starfire along, he enjoyed quite a lot since this is their first time alone in a while. Though, it didn't last as long as he liked it to be when Raven floated down the ceiling, surprising many guests present in the room. "Oops," she monotony stated as she landed near Robin and Starfire. "Friend Raven, hello! Would you like to join us for breakfast?" Starfire waved her hand slightly before going near her clasping her hands with the empath. "Sure," Raven shrugged, sitting beside Starfire from the table. "What about that guy?" Robin asked as he adjusted in his seat. " _He_ has a name, Robin. You can't just rely on pronouns forever." Raven ordered a meal when a waiter arrived towards their table. Robin frowned to her comment. She continued, "but yes. About 'him'. He's with Beast Boy, at the moment." Robin didn't ask any further as nodded before quietly eating his meal.

Starfire and Raven were chatting for a while, and sometimes Robin would join in when topics were changed and it were part of his interests. It was nice to have this once again, Robin had thought. Peaceful certainly is the word to describe this. Until people started chattering and whispering about something. The waiter that was serving the table went back and Robin took an opportunity to ask the man, "excuse me. What seems to be the problem?" The waiter looked at him weirdly before talking in Japanese.

Ah, he forgot.

They were in Japan.

With Japanese men and women.

Speaking in Japanese.

In a Japanese hotel.

Serving Japanese cuisine.

Internally, Robin slapped himself in the head for forgetting something so obvious. It must be because of the long hours they spent on guarding Ragnarök despite just only being a day. So he went and tapped Starfire's shoulder to ask the waiter what the fuss was about. She nodded and asked the waiter, who replied eagerly. He was gesturing here and there and pointed to the catering.

The teens turned their heads to see a figure of a tall and muscular man wearing a black, slim three-piece suit. He also wore a pair of black leather gloves that Robin finds suspicious. He decided to watch the man for a bit. "Oh my, how suspicious!" Starfire told the waiter. "Yes," the waiter nodded, "but he's not doing anything suspicious at all, though he looks like one. With the sunglasses and all." The waiter laughed nervously. The waiter bowed and went away when someone called for him in another table.

"Robin," the empath called, "I know that look. Don't even _think_ about it." Robin frowned further to Raven's comment, "I'm not doing anything!"

"But I know you will soon."

" _Raven…"_ the empath smirked away as she saw the tiny hint of pout from Robin. Starfire giggled, "oh, Robin, not everyone should be suspected despite their looks. That is mean!" Robin looked away from Starfire. Cheeks tinted, he apologized. The Tamaranian giggled once more. A few minutes later, Beast Boy arrived in the scene and sat next to Robin and engaged conversation with him as Starfire is to Raven.

Their commutators soon rang to see Cyborg on the screen, informing them that the installation has been complete. Soon, they switched on to the map to see where Ragnarök is located. He was still in the building, which is good, Robin thought. And just when they were about to switch to listen to what Ragnarök is planning, they heard a voice behind them, "hello." The teens quickly turned their heads back to see Ragnarök dressed in a black shirt and trousers with a white waistcoat and violet tie. Dressed like this, he caught many of the women's attention in the room, ogling at him. "Huh, maybe this is too eye-catching." Ragnarök mumbled as he took a chair and sat across the teens.

"Dude, what's with the outfit?" Beast Boy pointed at his clothes. The scarred teen blinked, "it's how I usually dress." Beast Boy looked puzzled. "Oh! I've never been here before! So this is the dining area…" Ragnarök looked around, missing being in a crowd for once. He asked Beast Boy to go with him until Cyborg had arrived and asked him to join in getting their food. In the process of excitement, he bumped into a man and apologized, grabbing some plate and utensils as the other waiters served them food. Later, they joined the others in a nice and quiet meal. Or not that quiet but you get the gist. They stayed there in around an hour just talking and occasionally laughing at Ragnarök's jokes along with a silence at Beast Boy's puns, then eventually laughing at the awkward silence.

* * *

Around nine, for the first time, they stepped out of the hotel and roamed around with Ragna still with them. This made Robin wonder. Ragnarök is blending in with the team so much that he find it suspicious although he didn't mind so long as no harm has come to it. It wasn't long when they saw another suspicious man roaming the streets.

Besides Ragnarök catching women's attention, another one like him appeared. It was the man that caused the fuss in the dining area back at the hotel. The Titans stopped and walking and stared at the man standing by a post, smoking while holding his trench coat on his arm along with his leather gloves. Ragnarök continued walking until he noticed the group to a halt. "Yo, what are you guys stopping for?" The group quietly pointed at the man by the post and just head turned to the direction they pointed to.

Ragnarök stared, then gaped.

"Sl- ...Wilson?" His brows narrowed.

The man looked up and stared at Ragnarök before his expression reflected Ragnarök's as his cigar left and fell down the ground. He blinked for a few times before stomping on the cigar and immediately walked towards the copper-haired teen and pulled him into an embrace, head buried by the side of Ragna's neck as his fingers felt his copper hair. On the other hand, the scarred teen was stunned. He didn't know what to do. Heck, the Titans didn't know what to do until Ragnarök finally spoke.

"S- Wilson… is it really you?" he spoke in German. This made the Titans wonder as to how many languages this teen knew. Slade whispered something to him, his head still buried by his neck. Ragnarök's warm expression turned into shock. He stopped as if he stopped breathing. Immediately, 'Slade' looked at him, his lips holding back a smirk. Behind the two, the Titans noticed something. They saw Ragnarök visibly shook before he turned around with a happy expression. "You guys, check this guy out! It's Wilson!" They blinked, "who?"

"A friend I made after Slade went for Russia. Sorry I didn't tell you guys, I almost forgot about him." Ragna's expression saddened a bit. "He's an immigrant like me and can only speak German. That's how I know a bit of it." He scratched his head. The group mouthed an 'oh' before they simply nodded. "It is an honor to meet a team of heroes," the 'German' held out his hand to the leader of the Titans. Robin raised a brow as he looked at Ragna, who gestured an 'okay', and shook the tall man's hand firmly. Letting go, Robin felt something familiar from the man, but didn't mind it. The man told something at Ragna in German and Ragna replied back, then smiled to the Titans.

"I guess this is where we part ways."

Immediately, Beast Boy came to the fastest reaction and whined. Cyborg and Starfire soon followed while Robin and Raven remained quiet. Ragna gave Robin a look as the Boy Wonder did to him before nodding. Raven, on the other hand, went forward to Ragnarök and stares at him then the white-haired man beside him. She knowingly looked at Ragna before her expression showed worry. Ragnarök stared at the empath.

She knows.

And he knew this.

He smiled at the violet-haired to reassure her that nothing wrong will happen. And whispered to her, "give us some time to speak alone once we leave." Raven stared. 'Please,' he mouthed. Raven looked at him then to the talker man, and back to Ragna before nodding, stepping away from them and back to the group. Finally, the group said their goodbyes to Ragnarök and walked away from them, going to a different direction. They waved as Ragna waved back, disappearing into the crowd.

* * *

"Hey, Raven?" Beast Boy asked the empath as they were walking away, "since when were you and Raggs been close?" Raven walked on, ignoring his question until Robin interrupted, "yeah, I've never seen you two interact even once the entire time. What's up?" Raven replied, "we enjoyed our peace and quiet." The others asked more questions about them, to which she ignored and continued walking, finally changing the subject to what they were going to do next.

* * *

In an alleyway elsewhere, Ragna was being forcefully dragged by Slade's hard grip on his wrist then pushed him to a wall, his muscular arms entrapping the teen beneath him before smirking down at him, purring, "So we meet again, Ragna." The teen shivered at how Slade had called his name. _Something's wrong,_ he thought before it was interrupted by a hand unbuttoning his vest and lifting the shirt to caress his sides. He gasped, his hand on Slade's wrist as he tried to stop him only to earn a slap from his face. Hard.

" **Are you disobeying me,"** Slade ominously stated. Ragna shivered, shaking his head in fear before the hands began to strip him from his clothes. He didn't say anything later on as his member began to twitch, hips jerking up as Slade's hand went down there and stroke it slowly. The teen moaned as he gripped onto Slade's shirt tightly. The elder man finally showed his trademark smirk.

 _You dare leave me, pet? I'm going to punish you so you won't leave me again._

Ragnarök remembered the words Slade had whispered to him earlier with the Titans. And immediately, he knew. He remembered.

 **He remembered.**

"C'mon, boy, say it." Slade whispered by the teen's ear as he stroke Ragna's member faster, making the teen moan. " _Ah…_ I, I'm… _mmm,_ your, _ah, pet…"_ The elder chuckled, "my _what_ now?" Ragna's hips bucked into the man's hand, " _I ah-m…_ your pet, _Master-!"_ In an instant, he came in the man's palm and panted, back leaning onto the man's chest. He shivered again when Slade deeply chuckled and kissed his neck, his dirtied palm close to Ragna's face for him to lick clean and say into his ear,

" _Good boy."_

* * *

 **A/N:** Oh, _shit._ /laughs Sooo third upload this week. (Hooray!) Whew, I am going strong with this one. Raggs and Slade finally meet! Just in a very confusing way. Btw, have any idea how much I made concepts for how all the would turn out? Made three possible concepts with the involving Ragna, and one that's involving Slade. Mostly with 'conditions.' Just to explain the entire shit together and all that.

Anyway, see y'all in the next chapter soon! :)


	10. The Teen, Chained and Trapped

**CHAPTER X**

 _And one last time, his hand ripped a void in the air._

 _Passing through it, the events will happen once more._

 _He looked around the wide room of the lab again and noticed his reflection on the broken cylinder tank._

 _He has aged._

 _He is an adult now._

 _He never noticed._

 _He was so focused on trying to save Slade that he didn't notice the change in his appearance._

 _He smiled an empty smile._

' _Much better,' he thought as he finally passed through the portal._

And gasp!

Ragna woke up.

"Good. You're awake." The shadowy figure stated. Ragna groaned and held his head before recognizing the shadow. "S-Slade?" The elder stood up from his seat beside Ragna's bed, "get up. We have work to do." He stated before going to the closet and grabbed a set of clothing, throwing it towards Ragna's direction. "Shower, get dressed, and come to me once doing so." Slade closed the door to Ragna's room. When his footsteps fade away, Ragna sighed and held on to the set of clothes he was given. He stretched and yawned before getting up and going to the bathroom to shower, his thoughts seemed to have ran in place.

 **He remembers.**

He's been having blackouts after leaving the Labs and it bothered him slightly. He couldn't remember what happened in between those two-year gaps but now… now, he clearly remembers. In fact, he wasn't sent to the Labs at all. He was already there.

* * *

 _Slade was already there._

 _Ragna's eyes widened to this._

 _He said he would leave for Russia, so why is Slade here?_

 _Why is the man he trusted in the Labs that created him?_

* * *

"Ragna!"

A loud knocking on the door interrupted his thoughts. Immediately, he opened the door to see Slade standing there, still in civilian clothing. "Yes?" Ragna asked, his tone slightly nervous as to the elder man's intense look. Why does he feel nervous? There should be nothing to be nervous about! Just as Slade was about to say something, he stopped and looked at Ragna again, who was confused by the sudden pause. He smirked, giving Ragna an unsettling feeling.

"Shouldn't you be dressed?" He asked as he slowly moved towards the naked teen. Ragna only realized this when Slade had asked and tried to cover himself but was stopped as Slade's hands grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the wall with a hand. "Slade!" Ragna squirmed underneath him, "let go!" The elder chuckled and hummed his free hand roaming and sliding around Ragna's body, who squirmed even more. His hand grabbed the younger's neck, squeezing it lightly for the teen to get the message. And he did. Slade smirked again, resuming to what he was doing.

"Slade… please let go…" Ragna quietly sobbed but Slade ignored it as he started to lick the teen's neck and went further down to one of the boy's nipples and nibbled it, making Ragna flinch and moan. His free hand stopped to place it on the boy's hip as his other hand that was holding the copper-haired's wrists let go and did the same, hands sliding up and down Ragna's sides. Ragna shivered as his hands were placed on Slade's shoulders, ready to push the older man away but found himself weak to his knees and slid down the floor to which the mercenary laughed, the teen blushed again in embarrassment.

"You're so cute, my pet," Slade whispered next to his ear as he kneeled down, his hands spreading Ragna's legs as he tries to close the distance. He started rubbing the teen's crotch with his and soon after, Ragna got hard, panting to the pleasure he felt in the friction.

"Slade," Ragna panted, "Slade, _please…"_ The white-haired chuckled to the plea. The hands went down to the boy's hard cock and pumped it in a fast pace. The sudden speed made Ragna's eyes go wide and moaned louder as his voice echoed the bathroom. Hearing his own lewd voice has never been more of such a turn on for himself than it is for Slade, whose visible bulge twitched. Slade licked two of his fingers and pushed it inside the pale skin's hole, never seeming to warn the teen of the sudden intrusion.

The two-colored eyes rolled back as the fingers in him hit a certain spot that made his mind blacked out, gasping as his hands gripped Slade's coat. Ragna was about to cum until Slade's hand that was on the boy's member stopped him with his thumb pressed onto the head, his fingers seeming to continue touching the teen's good spot continuously, making the boy suffer from being prevented to cum. "Ah, _ahhhh, Master, please!_ I, I can't- _I want to come!_ Let me… _please…!"_ The pale-skinned begged and begged it made Slade laughed and let his thumb go, making the boy cum on himself as his seed slid down his stomach. Slade stood up and unzipped himself, sliding his hand in a fast pace until he felt himself nearing.

"Open wide, pet." Slade ordered as Ragna did, looking dazed and confused at what was about to happen. It only hit him when Slade came in his mouth as the mercenary's hand grabbed his hair and inserted his cock into the teen's mouth, releasing his semen inside and filled his mouth in it that it overflowed as some dripped down Ragna's mouth. "Swallow it." And Ragna did so and opened his mouth to lick the rest of Slade's semen off the man's cock. Slade zipped his pants back up and stared at the teen sitting on the tiled floor. He smirked and patted the shivering Ragna's head, exiting the bathroom.

"Good boy."

* * *

"Good morning…"

"'Morning…"

"..."

Robin, Beast Boy, and Raven were the first to wake up. While Robin went down the hotel's gym, Raven made coffee as Beast Boy ordered breakfast for everyone. Later came a beaming Starfire helping out with Raven, and Cyborg who just went to the roof of the building. They all gathered in Ragnarök's room since that was the widest room in the floor and ate their breakfast there. While eating, Cyborg interrupted by informing Robin about something.

"Yo, Rob. The signal to Ragna's tag is steady. Seems he's still around here." Robin nodded, chewing before talking, "is the mic working?" Cyborg replied with a yes, tapping some reports on his robotic arm to check the status of the tag. "You wanna use it now?" The half-robot asked. "Maybe later," Robin stood up his seat and headed for the door, "Titans, I know you want to have your vacation," he stopped and stood by the door, "but I would like to inform you that we are leaving this afternoon. That is all." He turned around and exited the room, footsteps fading out the background and too late to hear a few whines from his members.

"We're leaving? That sucks!" Beast Boy went and pouted.

"Please, as much as I miss our home, I would like to explore this city still." Starfire followed.

"I guess we'll just have to go here some other time," Beast Boy sighed as his ears drooped, later shouting 'goodbye, land of good tofu' with Cyborg and Starfire trying to calm the shapeshifter down from tears. Raven sat quiet as she sips her coffee, not minding the other Titans present in the room until they called for her. "Rae? You okay?" Cyborg asked as he put a hand on her shoulder. Raven looked at the half-machine and stated, "I'm fine," before standing up and exiting the room. The three Titans looked at each other, confused.

Raven walked around the hallway before deciding to go to the rooftop as she summoned a black hole up the ceiling and flew upwards, her legs now crossed and her arms resting on her lap, meditating. She cleared her mind before she remembered what happened yesterday. The tall white-haired man, she knew who he is.

It was Slade.

The time when Ragna had shared his memories, the last image she saw, she was definitely sure who he is based on that image. The aura that Ragna was feeling in his memories compared to when she met Slade, unmasked, was quite different, however. True, there was no killing intent whatsoever but… what was it that she felt? It was as if Slade was… impatient? She wasn't sure. It was now that she realized that she worries for the copper-haired teen. Her feelings stirred, she shook her head and went back to meditating, calming herself down.

* * *

Ragna was all dressed and ready, and went around the place he is residing in. Now that he thought about it, he never knew how he got here. It was only now that realized that. Where is he? A long hallway to start. He was outside of his room only to be greeted by a long hallway. He frowned, this was as if he was back in the Labs in Hokkaido. He started walking and in a few seconds was met with two paths, and a door in the middle. He opened the door. No luck. The room is empty, figuratively and quite literally, seeing as there was no furniture to be seen in the room. He exits the door and closed it, going to the left path. Another door. He opened it and recognized it to be a storage room. Opposite him is another door, he went and opened it to see himself back in the hallway.

 _Huh,_ he internally went as he looked around before closing the door to continue his little adventure. He opened the door across him to see another storage and another door. This time, he didn't go further, thinking he would just end up on the path he didn't choose earlier, the right side. And yes, he was right. He went out and walked the hallway again. He opened another door. _Just how many doors are in this place,_ he complained. He was greeted by a room full of books. A library so big he was walking on a bridge, he just noticed. One, two, three… Five floors with shelves filled with books. Jesus Christ, he feels as if he was walking in just a piece of a giant castle, which could be possible, he thought.

He walked and walked and walked, his feet are getting tired roaming around to look for Slade. And that when he was starting to get nervous. His heart started beating in a faster pace, his breathing started to go ragged as he was hit with dizziness. He collapsed on the floor, calling for Slade continuously, tears seemed to have tracked down his cheeks as his consciousness slowly fades. It didn't stop him to see a silhouette fading in his vision, however. He smiled, knowing who it was as he clung on to the man's arms, calling out to him more.

"Slade… Slade… Slade…" He continued. The man's arms embraced him, calming him down as it went up and down his back. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Ragna continued as he felt Slade's hand caress his back. The older of the two replied, chuckling as he whispered to him, "you are so useless." This made Ragna cried even harder as much as he apologized again and again. Slade continued, "but you were so entertaining to watch, so I'll forgive you."

It was when Slade had said those words that the teen finally looked up, eyes beaming as he held up a smile like that of an excited smile of child when they receive a gift they really want, "really?" He went. Slade's other hand went up to the copper hair and started stroking it lightly like stroking a cat, "yes, you are forgiven," Slade gave a dazed smile. Ragna smiled bigger, appreciating- no- cherishing his master's forgiveness. He does not want to be useless to his master after all.

* * *

Slade smiled as his 'pet' snuggled closer to him. _And so it works._ He thought. Slade had planned to do this to Ragnarök all along. This child never knew that he slept for over a week, heavily sedated. As for the dog tags Ragna wore, Slade made sure to take care of it with a pre-recorded conversations of he and a hypnotized Ragna, recording Ragna's voice and speech patterns and applied it to a Sladebot after making it wear the tags and walk around a place or two to distract the Titans. Being heavily sedated, the teen was experimented on through cognitive hypnosis.

Making him realize that there is no escape from him, no denial of Ragna's need of him. After all, he is the only one the boy has. A bit of Wintergreen in some bits but he made sure to make Ragna loyal to him the most. And Ragna have not a clue of what happened, Slade smirked to this, that the teen has been altered to have a very low self-esteem with only Slade as his pillar of hope and support. And _now he is mine,_ the white-haired thought.

 _ **All mine.**_

 _ **Just mine.**_

 _ **My pet.**_

 _ **My very own loyal apprentice.**_

* * *

 **A/N:** Shhhh... I'm just as confused as to what happened here but I also understand that I wrote it, so I'm kind of in between comprehension and incomprehension based on what I wrote. Meh, might as well go with the flow... See you next chapter, then! :) Reviews are always welcome, negative or nah lmao


	11. The Abused, An Encounter with a Merc

**CHAPTER XI**

"Byakuya."

"..."

"Hey, Byakuya."

"..."

"Byakuya, snap the fuck up!" The man slammed his hand down to the dining table, Byakuya flinched and finally looked up. The man mumbled, "piece of shit." He continued with a more stricter tone, "get your head in place, you useless bitch! Get out! Never come back!" His hand slapped Byakuya's cheek, leaving a mark on the teen's face. The platinum-haired stood up after being dragged and thrown out of their house by their bastard drunk father. It was about time, really. Byakuya never wanted to go back to that house anyway. Because all the father has ever done was get drunk and smash the empty bottle of whiskey to the teen's face after finishing it, then using the teen as a footstool while his kid picked up the pieces of glass scattered on the floor. Byakuya was so relieved to have been kicked out of that house. Never been so happy in such a long time.

The last time Byakuya remembered being happy was when they spent time with their mother. She was so kind, so beautiful, so innocent. Then her husband ruined her. Sold her to his friends to buy more whiskey. But despite it all, the teen's mother still smiled at her child, reassuring her child nonstop. No matter how many semen flowed down her genital, she could only but smile for her child to reassure 'em. Byakuya has never admired anyone but their mother, thinking of putting up a face like that. She was so miserable, and her only light was her child, Byakuya. She promised her child that they will not be harmed, not be used but Byakuya knows it'll be in due time that it won't be so.

Byakuya stopped by a small park and sat on a swing, sighing as the platinum-haired looked up the starry sky. The background around the teen was nothing but a light focusing on himself. Silently, the teen's tears flowed down their cheeks as they exhaled their breath.

Byakuya is finally free.

* * *

Slowly.

Slowly his eyes opened to meet a bright background. He squinted, groaning as he covered the brightness with his hand as he tried to sit up. His vision slowly adjusted as his eyes finally got used to it. He looked around whilst yawning as he slowly starts to realize where he is. He panicked and slid off the bed he was sitting on as he called out, "Slade? Slade?! Slade!"

"I'm here," Slade replied. Ragna turned his head around to see Slade sitting on the side of the bed, eyeing him. "You're awake. Good evening." The expert mercenary smirked at the calming teen who nodded at him. "Wait, evening?" Ragna's brow raised. "You slept after crying. So I carried you back here." Slade stood up the bed and went to the door only to be stopped by a hand tugging his shirt. His eye met the two-toned eyes, "is there something else?" He asked. Ragna stared at the mercenary for a while before his face showed confusion and let go of his grip on Slade. "Nothing," Ragna continuously blinked before asking, "say, what did you need me for earlier?" Slade did not answer and looked away before opening the door, "would you like a tour of the place, Ragna?" The teen blinked and nodded reluctantly before he followed Slade who gestured for him to follow.

No wonder he was lost.

The entire place is like an enormous maze. While Ragna's room is on the fifth, the highest floor, other rooms are on the fourth, third, second, and first floor. All floors are explorable through the two elevators alone, which was down the hallway Ragna went to earlier. On the first floor are the kitchen, main hall, fire pit, and the entrance. The second floor consist of the storage connected to the kitchen and an art gallery connected to the fire pit. The third floor has a huge library connected up to the fifth floor, an art room and a small space that leads up to the fourth floor that is connected to Ragna's room on the fifth.

The only room on the fourth is the hallway and that empty room. Slade also told something about an underground gym being connected to the empty room and to get there is to parkour through it alone. It was then that Ragna noticed something missing but he just doesn't know what it is until Slade told him, "... Should you seek for me, I'm in my room on the fifth floor." Ragna's head snapped up to look at Slade, "the fifth floor? But, but there's no other room there but mine!" Slade stopped walking and turned around to face Ragna, a smirk played around his lips, "find it." The smirk widens when Slade saw the priceless look on Ragna's face.

 _Great,_ the teen thought. "S-So where exactly are we, by the way? Are we still in Japan, or…?"

"We're still in Tokyo."

"O-oh."

"In Tochigi-ken."*

* * *

Around the same time, Byakuya was exploring the forest near their place. Having nowhere to go, the teen decided to stay the night up in the trees of the forest. Byakuya has been doing this ever since the teen's father is away from home getting drunk. Byakuya could never do feel safe around the house, so they decided to roam out instead. To Byakuya, this was much safer, much quieter. The teen felt much at ease.

Up until now.

As the teen roamed the forest, Byakuya heard an ominous presence from a distance. Moving closer to it with caution, Byakuya saw crows flew away from it, making Byakuya more curious as they walked further to the direction. In that direction, Byakuya saw a tiny amount of light and moved in a faster yet stealthy pace. What the teen saw, they'll never forget.

A mansion is present in the center of the forest. In front of Byakuya, stands a huge gate that blocks the teen's path towards the building. It didn't stop Byakuya, however. The teen climbed the gate and jumped down to be inside and past through the gate, further walking down to hear and see a fountain distances between the gate and the entrance to the mansion. Byakuya walked further, opening the door to the huge building.

* * *

The alarm being triggered made Slade cocked his head to the side and immediately opened the door to exit Ragna's room and went to the elevator around the hallway. As soon as he went down the first floor, he stopped in the middle of the main hall after he grabbed his utility belt and took out an extendable energy Lance and faced the tip towards the door. Followed him was a panting Ragna who just got down the main hall, asking him what the problem was as Slade replied with, "Intruder."

* * *

Opening the door, Byakuya encountered two silhouettes in what seems to be a hall. Instantly, the teen stood frozen in place as one of them held a gun out pointing towards the teen's direction. "Who are you?" The deep voice asked with a tone of caution.

* * *

 **A/N:** Tochigi-ken is a mountainside located in Tokyo.

*Sigh* And another chapter updated (hooray!)

Not really. These days I'm not having any ideas as to what next I should be doing, so I introduced another character, so yay to that, I guess. Hahaha. Also, please check out my other story, "Imaginary Friend" and tell me what you think of it through reviews, I'm desperate for ideas. lmao

See you next chapter! :)


	12. The Abused, the Teen, and the Mercenary

**CHAPTER XII**

Ragna stood still as the scene before him unfolds to see a person by the door. A _girl_ by the door. Of all the suspicious people he could encounter, it happens to be a girl with a platinum hair, onyx eyes, and a cute face. Her figure was pretty petite just as her body language was from her shaking as a gun was pointed to her direction. With himself beside Slade, he held a hand out to reach for the mercenary's gun and told him to wait. Slade eyed him before reluctantly putting the gun away to his holster. Slowly, Ragna raised his hands up as he took small steps to go towards the girl who became alarm of his presence.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, we won't harm you. See? I have no weapons on me," Ragna spoke in Japanese as he kept his hands up as he walked towards the girl. She stood still behind the door that was covering her body, then eventually tried to trust Ragna's words as she cautiously fully went inside the huge room. Ragna smiled slightly as she trusted him even just a bit and carefully puts his hands down as he approached her. He thanked her, then followed it with a question, "My name is Ragnarök Kamui. May I ask for your name?"

The girl stood still, eyes shifting from places in the room before staring up at him, "B-... Byakuya…" The copper-haired smiled, "Byakuya, nice to meet you. May I ask how you found out about this place?"

Byakuya was shifting her eyes before she stared at Ragna. She looked at her hands before looking back up again, "H-Home, uh, um, k-kicked… Go out and walked. Forest, good place. So, I… g-g-go." Hearing the unusual way of stuttering, Ragna and Slade knowingly looked at each other before they turned back to Byakuya. "Did you happen to have a stroke? Your stuttering and grammar construction seems to be off." Byakuya was stuttering, gesturing, and pointing here and there as she finally was able to answer, "T-t-trauma, here." She pointed her fingers in a form of a gun to the left side of her head, "S-shot. Yeah." Slade snorted before he finally relaxed and walked off to god-knows-where.

Ragnarök instructed Byakuya to wait, and though she could run away, she didn't. She might be shot. Again. Or so she thinks. So it's better to stay than to risk getting shot again. She watched as Ragna ran towards Slade and quietly talked to him, few gestures being thrown here and there, and the occasional glance towards her made her feel tense. _What now,_ she asks.

"Can't we just let her go?"

"You'd let her go for reasons she has aphasia, or you wouldn't want blood to be shed?"

"Both!"

"Ridiculous."

" _Slade!"_

The two had been exchanging conversations as to what to do with the girl. Ragna wants her to go safely while Slade counters by deciding to just kill her. Ragna countered Slade, "you're not like that. You wouldn't do that." Slade's brow raised, "how can you be so sure of that?" It was at that moment when Ragna looked at Slade in probably the first time today. He remembered that lone blue eye staring at him with a sense of pride and kindness, and as it still does, there exist another kind he couldn't describe. Ragnarök spoke, "Because Slade, you are a man of principles. You will not commit to such things you find 'harmless' unless you feel threatened into doing so." Ragna's lips formed into a smile, "much like a spider."

Slade stared at this teen before him. Behind the firm look in his eye, he was surprised. To describe him a man of decency, in which he truly is, he was a bit caught off-guard when the boy looked at him with a firm stare. He had never seen them that vividly up until now compared to how he had first found the boy in the dark alleys, bruised and expressionless. Emotionless. And now, look at him. Eyes vibrant and full of confidence as to what he had stated. _What a fool,_ the mercenary thought, _what a tremendous fool._ His own pride for the boy got the best of him as his lips formed a grin, chuckling and turning before his expression softened and just simply nodded at him. Ragna smiled as he gave the accurate answer.

"You know what, kid? Let her stay the night here." Ragna couldn't control the bigger smile he gave Slade as he ran towards Byakuya and told her exactly what Slade told him. Slade saw Byakuya beamed and looked at him, giving him a bow, then replied Slade with a nod before walking off. Ragna couldn't get any happier than this.

* * *

"Robin?"

"What is it, Star?"

"You seem to have been busy at most times. Other times, distracted. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Star. I'm fine."

"... Okay."

* * *

"Wassup, Robin!"

"... Yeah."

"Dude, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. Don't worry."

"O… kay…"

* * *

"Yo, Rob!"

"For the love of- What?!"

"... Woah, man, chill! I just wanna ask if you need anything! Like food, maybe?"

"I'm fine. I'll go and ask when I need something. Just don't. Disturb me. Any of you."

"Alright! Alright, sheesh…"

* * *

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Don't tell me they sent you, Raven."

"They didn't. I am, however, slightly worried as to your 'busy' schedule just staring at your communicator the entire time for half of the day." Raven stood still as she eyes their leader sprawled over the couch just simply staring at his communicator. "It's just that- Nothing's happening! Not even a hint of secret messages is present in their conversations! It's just so suspicious! And it's driving me crazy!" Robin ranted off as he frustratingly scratches his head and pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed.

"Maybe the actual truth is just that. Ragna was never doing anything wrong at all to begin with." Robin for the first time turned around to face someone eye to eye, "so you're siding with _him_ now?" Raven, face remained expressionless, explained herself, "it's not a matter of side, Robin. He just didn't do anything that harmed anyone anywhere. If anything, it was us that made the move first. Most especially, you."

"I know," the black-haired teen mumbled as he turned away, "I know but… this is _Slade_ he's involved with-"

"-And Slade he has never seen again." Raven cutted Robin's sentences short. "Robin, please. For the team. For your friends. Get over it as we all did with Slade. He's never coming back. Nor will he to Ragna." The girl's words struck the Boy Wonder, whose eyes squinted behind the mask as he went into silence, before speaking again, "I'll try," he stated shortly. Raven nodded before turning her back against Robin, leaving the room. "Hey, Raven?" Robin called out, to which she halted, "yes?" Robin stared before looking away, his voice sounding grateful, "thank you." The girl of Azarath smiled and finally left.

Exiting the room, Raven's smile faded as she wondered.

 _If only he knew that who they met was Slade._

* * *

Night time had stuck as it was ten in the evening. They talked with each other and got comfortable until she fell asleep. Ragna took Byakuya to where Slade had told him to go, which was explained to be her room, and so he did. He lay her on the bed and tucked her in with a white sheet, caressing her beautiful hair before standing up and quietly exited the room. Upon closing the door from the outside, he instantly felt a strong body heat crept up on his back along with an arm sliding around his waist, and another arm grabbing his wrist that got him pinned down between the body behind him and the closed door in front of him. In order for Ragna not to create a noise that will wake Byakuya up, he struggled to let himself free as he turned his head and glared at the man behind him, quietly going, " _Slade!"_

Behind him, he heard Slade chuckle, licking his lips before whispering, "ah, and what do we have here… a lone little Ragnarök, caught between myself and the door. How cute." He purred the last words next to Ragna's ear that sent tingles down his spine. " _Slade, let go!"_ The younger male struggled still only to make it worse as a leg got between his own and started rubbing him down there. Ragna started panting, and Slade chuckled again. _Right next to his ear._

Slade's mouth traced kisses down the shivering boy's nape and nipped down at the side of his neck, making Ragna gasp and stopped moving. Slade moved his mouth to Ragna's ear again and nipped on his ear as he called him again. " _Ragna."_

* * *

A make out session by the door,

Continued with caressing by the hallway,

And right before he knew it,

Slade and himself were in his room,

And on his bed.

.

And again, his mouth,

Along with his throat, was abused.

The elder man's seed was forced down

And into him it went.

.

His clothes decreased as the caressing increased.

The shivering never seeming to stop

As the lone eye that watches him

Was filled with a strong sense of lust.

.

He is afraid of this Slade.

His final thoughts went before blacking out.

* * *

 **A/N:** Yaaaassss. I finally updated. I'm sorry if I didn't for a while, I was busy sketching and practicing, and animating, and all that. So yeah. I'll be updating this story once in a while as a new kind of schedule. As for "Imaginary Friend," since it's kind of easier to make an idea for that, it will be updated much more than this story, so feel free to check that out! :3


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